Gathering the fractionated electromagnetic satellites cluster by simulating fish school

Purpose - Fractionated satellite clusters need coming together and avoiding crashing with limited random initial relative motion conditions. It is not necessary to keep the invariable configuration. The purpose of this paper is to put forward a control law which simulates organism swarm motion. Design/methodology/approach - The motion of satellites follows three rules: coming together, velocity homology and avoiding crash. According to the rules, three control forces should be applied to satellite individuals. The final control force is the sum of three control forces. Electromagnetic dipole strengths calculation is formulated as nonlinear optimization problem. Considering control strengths have to be got in real time, iterative steps of optimization algorithm are fixed. Findings - A control law which simulates organism swarm motion is put forward. The simulation shows the organism swarm motion simulation control law can keep fractionated satellite cluster coming together and avoiding crash. When iterative steps of optimization algorithm is fixed, the error of solve nonlinear equations is acceptable. Originality/value - The control law is robust and easy to realize. When electromagnetic satellite cluster need not keep fixed configuration, it is a choice of control law of relative motion.