Research Article
Open Access
Adaptive Finite-Time Attitude Control Based on Time-Varying Sliding Mode
1
Jiangsu Second Normal University, Nanjing 210013, China
2
Institute of Artificial Intelligence Research, Jiangsu Second Normal University, Nanjing 210013, China
3
College of Artificial Intelligence, Jiaxing University, Jiaxing 314001, China
4
Independent Researcher, Guildford, United Kingdom
* Corresponding Author:
Quan Li,
[email protected]
Volume 1, Issue 1
2026
Received: 08 December 2025
Accepted: 27 December 2025
Published: 25 January 2026
Article Information
Abstract
This study investigates the finite-time attitude tracking problem of spacecraft. We employ finite-time control methods to develop a novel adaptive controller. The controller utilizes a time-varying non-singular adaptive fast terminal sliding mode. The time-varying sliding mode dynamically adjusts the sliding surface morphology. This adjustment enables precise control performance tuning. Additionally, adaptive methods estimate the upper bound of generalized disturbances. This estimation reduces the computational load of the controller. The proposed controller demonstrates high robustness against external disturbances and inertia uncertainties. Lyapunov methods prove the stability of the controller. Numerical simulations validate the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm. The simulation results exhibit high precision and confirm the algorithm's performance.
Graphical Abstract
Keywords
spacecraft attitude control
finite-time control
time-varying sliding mode
adaptive control
Data Availability Statement
Data will be made available on request.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 62471204, and Jiangsu Provincial Key Research and Development Program under Grant BE2023022-2.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
AI Use Statement
The authors declare that no generative AI was used in the preparation of this manuscript.
Ethical Approval and Consent to Participate
Not applicable.
References
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APA Style
Pan, W., Shen, Z., Fang, T., Tang, R., Dai, R., Xia, R., Ni, Y., & Li, Q. (2026). Adaptive Finite-Time Attitude Control Based on Time-Varying Sliding Mode. Aerospace Engineering Communications, 1(1), 28–35. https://doi.org/10.62762/AEC.2025.182476
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TY - JOUR AU - Pan, Wei AU - Shen, Zitong AU - Fang, Tianshuo AU - Tang, Ruochen AU - Dai, Rui AU - Xia, Rui AU - Ni, Yiyang AU - Li, Quan PY - 2026 DA - 2026/01/25 TI - Adaptive Finite-Time Attitude Control Based on Time-Varying Sliding Mode JO - Aerospace Engineering Communications T2 - Aerospace Engineering Communications JF - Aerospace Engineering Communications VL - 1 IS - 1 SP - 28 EP - 35 DO - 10.62762/AEC.2025.182476 UR - https://www.icck.org/article/abs/AEC.2025.182476 KW - spacecraft attitude control KW - finite-time control KW - time-varying sliding mode KW - adaptive control AB - This study investigates the finite-time attitude tracking problem of spacecraft. We employ finite-time control methods to develop a novel adaptive controller. The controller utilizes a time-varying non-singular adaptive fast terminal sliding mode. The time-varying sliding mode dynamically adjusts the sliding surface morphology. This adjustment enables precise control performance tuning. Additionally, adaptive methods estimate the upper bound of generalized disturbances. This estimation reduces the computational load of the controller. The proposed controller demonstrates high robustness against external disturbances and inertia uncertainties. Lyapunov methods prove the stability of the controller. Numerical simulations validate the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm. The simulation results exhibit high precision and confirm the algorithm's performance. SN - 3071-1967 PB - Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge LA - English ER -
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@article{Pan2026Adaptive,
author = {Wei Pan and Zitong Shen and Tianshuo Fang and Ruochen Tang and Rui Dai and Rui Xia and Yiyang Ni and Quan Li},
title = {Adaptive Finite-Time Attitude Control Based on Time-Varying Sliding Mode},
journal = {Aerospace Engineering Communications},
year = {2026},
volume = {1},
number = {1},
pages = {28-35},
doi = {10.62762/AEC.2025.182476},
url = {https://www.icck.org/article/abs/AEC.2025.182476},
abstract = {This study investigates the finite-time attitude tracking problem of spacecraft. We employ finite-time control methods to develop a novel adaptive controller. The controller utilizes a time-varying non-singular adaptive fast terminal sliding mode. The time-varying sliding mode dynamically adjusts the sliding surface morphology. This adjustment enables precise control performance tuning. Additionally, adaptive methods estimate the upper bound of generalized disturbances. This estimation reduces the computational load of the controller. The proposed controller demonstrates high robustness against external disturbances and inertia uncertainties. Lyapunov methods prove the stability of the controller. Numerical simulations validate the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm. The simulation results exhibit high precision and confirm the algorithm's performance.},
keywords = {spacecraft attitude control, finite-time control, time-varying sliding mode, adaptive control},
issn = {3071-1967},
publisher = {Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge}
}
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Copyright © 2026 by the Author(s). Published by Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.
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