Singularity avoidance in redundant single gimbal control moment gyroscope systems

Single gimbal control moment gyroscope (SGCMG) is one kind of inertial actuators applied to the spacecrafts. Three or more SGCMGs are used in order to meet the need of the 3-axis attitude control. Singularity often arises when several SGCMGs work coordinately. A detecting method of avoidability of singular states was proposed which was suitable for SGCMG systems. This approach can transform the problem of detecting avoidability/unavoidability to qualitative study on a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations. Several examples indicate that the method presented above is feasible.