1 /* Copyright 2010-2011 Centre National d'Études Spatiales
2 * Licensed to CS Systèmes d'Information (CS) under one or more
3 * contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
4 * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
5 * CS licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
6 * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
7 * the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
8 *
9 * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
10 *
11 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
12 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
13 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
14 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
15 * limitations under the License.
16 */
17 package org.orekit.propagation.integration;
18
19 import org.orekit.errors.OrekitException;
20 import org.orekit.propagation.SpacecraftState;
21
22 /** This interface allows users to add their own differential equations to a numerical propagator.
23 *
24 * <p>
25 * In some cases users may need to integrate some problem-specific equations along with
26 * classical spacecraft equations of motions. One example is optimal control in low
27 * thrust where adjoint parameters linked to the minimized Hamiltonian must be integrated.
28 * Another example is formation flying or rendez-vous which use the Clohessy-Whiltshire
29 * equations for the relative motion.
30 * </p>
31 * <p>
32 * This interface allows users to add such equations to a {@link
33 * org.orekit.propagation.numerical.NumericalPropagator numerical propagator}. Users provide the
34 * equations as an implementation of this interface and register it to the propagator thanks to
35 * its {@link org.orekit.propagation.numerical.NumericalPropagator#addAdditionalEquations(AdditionalEquations)}
36 * method. Several such objects can be registered with each numerical propagator, but it is
37 * recommended to gather in the same object the sets of parameters which equations can interact
38 * on each others states.
39 * </p>
40 * <p>
41 * The additional parameters are gathered in a simple p array. The additional equations compute
42 * the pDot array, which is the time-derivative of the p array. Since the additional parameters
43 * p may also have an influence on the equations of motion themselves that should be accumulated
44 * to the main state derivatives (for example an equation linked to a complex thrust model may
45 * induce an acceleration and a mass change), the {@link #computeDerivatives(SpacecraftState, double[])
46 * computeDerivatives} method can return a double array that will be
47 * <em>added</em> to the main state derivatives. This means these equations can be used as an
48 * additional force model if needed. If the additional parameters have no influence at all on
49 * the main spacecraft state, a null reference may be returned.
50 * </p>
51 * <p>
52 * This interface is the numerical (read not already integrated) counterpart of
53 * the {@link org.orekit.propagation.AdditionalStateProvider} interface.
54 * It allows to append various additional state parameters to any {@link
55 * org.orekit.propagation.numerical.NumericalPropagator numerical propagator}.
56 * </p>
57 * @see AbstractIntegratedPropagator
58 * @see org.orekit.propagation.AdditionalStateProvider
59 * @author Luc Maisonobe
60 */
61 public interface AdditionalEquations {
62
63 /** Get the name of the additional state.
64 * @return name of the additional state
65 */
66 String getName();
67
68 /** Compute the derivatives related to the additional state parameters.
69 * <p>
70 * When this method is called, the spacecraft state contains the main
71 * state (orbit, attitude and mass), all the states provided through
72 * the {@link org.orekit.propagation.AdditionalStateProvider additional
73 * state providers} registered to the propagator, and the additional state
74 * integrated using this equation. It does <em>not</em> contains any other
75 * states to be integrated alongside during the same propagation.
76 * </p>
77 * @param s current state information: date, kinematics, attitude, and
78 * additional state
79 * @param pDot placeholder where the derivatives of the additional parameters
80 * should be put
81 * @return cumulative effect of the equations on the main state (may be null if
82 * equations do not change main state at all)
83 * @exception OrekitException if some specific error occurs
84 */
85 double[] computeDerivatives(SpacecraftState s, double[] pDot)
86 throws OrekitException;
87
88 }