APF-Based Control for On-Orbit Swarm Guard Against Multiple Threat Targets

With the number of satellites and space debris growing fast, it is significant to develop a swarm-to-swarm defense method to protect the on-orbit high value spacecraft. In order to solve the difficulties of swarm assignment combinations, unpredictable threat target maneuvers, non-Euclidean dynamics, and real-time control requirements, a novel method mainly based on Hungarian algorithm and artificial potential fields is proposed. The method involves rapidly searching the one-to-one mission assignment scheme and generating control laws of defenders in real time. Both a positive and a conservative defend strategy are proposed. Case studies show that the computation time of the instantaneous target assignment and control scheme is 0.08 ms. When defenders are not less than threat targets and their maneuverability are the same, the interception number is 100%.