Design of Model Predictive Controller for Trajectory Tracking of a Ground Station Antenna

This paper develops new results on the use of model predictive control to regulate the attitude of a ground station antenna. Two degree of freedom AZ-EL pedestal is considered as ground station antenna. Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors are taken into consideration as the best choice for satisfaction of control objectives as actuators. The design is based on a two cascade controller consist of MPC and a simple feedback linearization, respectively. The proposed approach provides more smooth tracking and lower energy consumption with respect to analogous works. The model predictive controller employs integral action, resulting in zero steady-state error and load torque disturbance rejection. Realistic disturbances caused by wind and load is considered and applied to an industry-sized pedestal. The reference data of azimuth and elevation angles are chosen from a real tracking mission. The comparison of simulation results by typical PI controller, verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.