Analysis of a distributed estimation and control scheme for formation flying spacecraft

The stability characteristics of a distributed consensus-based Kalman filter estimation and control scheme are studied through analytic and numerical means. This estimation scheme seeks to minimally reduce the necessary bandwidth for communication while maintaining overall stability. A weaker form of the separation principle is proven to hold whereby control could be designed independently but not estimation. However, actuation limitations still provide the possibility for a semi-independent design of estimators. Numerical simulations confirm that the stability depends very heavily on consensus on estimation and ultimately the amount of information available to the system as it evolves.