INTERACTIVE COMPUTER GRAPHICS AND ITS ROLE IN CONTROL SYSTEM DESIGN OF LARGE SPACE STRUCTURES

摘要

With the success of the space shuttle flights, interest in constructing large space structures and controlling them for the purpose of communications, continuous upper atmospheric research, etc. is increasing and may become a reality in the near future. This paper attempts to show the relevance of the interactive computer graphics in the design of the control systems to maintain attitude and shape of large space structures to accomplish the required mission objectives. The typical phases of control system design, starting from the physical model such as modelling the dynamics, modal analysis, control system design methodology are reviewed and the need of the interactive computer graphics is demonstrated. Typical constituent parts of large space structures such as free-free beams and free-free plates are used to demonstrate the complexity of the control system design and the effectiveness of the interactive computer graphics.