Attitude synchronization of satellites with internal actuation

We present control synthesis for attitude synchronization of a cluster of satellites, that are internally actuated, using a coordinate-free approach. The control law is designed using the notion of potential energy shaping that rests on the use of modified trace functions. The distinguishing aspect of the internal actuation model is that the drift vector field in the system dynamics explicitly depends on the conserved total angular momentum. The control law presented is applicable to a general undirected graph of communication between the satellites, with one satellite of the cluster communicating with the leader. Further, the control law is applicable with just two vector observations in each satellite, and hence making redundant, complete attitude information.