Quaternion versus rotation matrix feedback for tigrisat attitude stabilization

The purpose of this paper is to compare the performances between quaternion and attitude rate feedback, and rotation matrix and attitude rate feedback used to stabilize the nominal attitude of Tigrisat nanosatellite. From a mathematical point of view an important difference between the two control laws is that only quaternion feedback can exhibit an undesired behavior known as the unwinding phenomenon. Monte Carlo campaigns show that the two control laws perform comparably in terms of speed of convergence. Moreover, they show that rotation matrix feedback requires less energy.