Dr. Francesco Topputo
Department of Aerospace Science and Technology, Politecnico di Milano, Via La Masa, 34, 20156 Milan, Italy
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Academic Career Length
22Years (2005-Present)
(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)
Representative Publications
View All Publications30 August 2013 in Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy
Journal Article
Francesco Topputo1 January 2014 in Abstract and Applied Analysis
Journal Article
Francesco TopputoCZC. Zhang
C. Zhang
Space trajectory design is usually addressed as an optimal control problem. Although it relies on the classic theory of optimal control, this branch possesses some peculiarities that led to the development of ad hoc techniques, which can be grouped into two categories: direct and indirect methods. This paper gives an overview of the principal techniques belonging to the direct methods. The technique known as “direct transcription and collocation” is illustrated by considering Hermite-Simpson, high-order Gauss-Lobatto, and pseudospectral methods. Practical examples are given, and several hints to improve efficiency and robustness are implemented.
10 July 2009 in Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy
Journal Article
GMG. Mingotti
G. MingottiFrancesco TopputoFZFranco Bernelli Zazzera
Franco Bernelli Zazzera1 December 2005 in The Journal of the Astronautical Sciences
Journal Article
Francesco Topputo
Massimiliano VasileFZFranco Bernelli Zazzera
Franco Bernelli Zazzera1 January 2010 in SIAM Journal on Applied Dynamical Systems
Journal Article
The concept of a weak stability boundary has been successfully used in the design of several fuel efficient space missions. In this paper we give a rigorous definition of the weak stability boundary in the context of the planar circular restricted three-body problem, and we provide a geometric argument for the fact that, for some energy range, the points in the weak stability boundary of the small primary are the points with zero radial velocity that lie on the stable manifolds of the Lyapunov orbits about the libration points $L_1$ and $L_2$, provided that these manifolds satisfy some topological conditions. The geometric method is based on the property of the invariant manifolds of Lyapunov orbits being separatrices of the energy manifold. We support our geometric argument with numerical experiments.
1 November 2011 in Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics
Journal Article
GMGiorgio Mingotti
Giorgio Mingotti
Francesco TopputoFZFranco Bernelli Zazzera
Franco Bernelli ZazzeraA method to incorporate low-thrust propulsion into the invariant manifolds technique is presented in this paper. The low-thrust propulsion is introduced by means of special attainable sets that are used in conjunction with invariant manifolds to define a first-guess solution. This is later optimized in a more refined model where an optimal control formalism is used. Planar low-energy low-thrust transfers to the moon, as well as spatial low-thrust stable-manifold transfers to halo orbits in the Earth moon system, are presented. These solutions are not achievable via patched-conics methods or standard invariant manifolds techniques. The aim of the work is to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed method in delivering efficient solutions, which are compared with known examples
About Me
Prof. Francesco Topputo has 20-year experience in project coordination, gained through his role as Full Professor in Space Systems at Polimi and as co-founder at Dinamica (2008-2017) and Nautilus (2021-). His core research activity involves interplanetary CubeSat mission design, autonomous guidance, navigation, and control, and nonlinear astrodynamics. He has been PI of the LUMIO mission studies and is also involved in ESA’s M-ARGO and Milani CubeSat missions design. He is an ERC laureate (CoG 2019) and has been PI in 15 research projects, with approximately €5M research grants allocated to work under his direction. He leads the Deep-space Astrodynamics Research and Technology (DART) group composed of 1 Senior Assistant Professor, 4 PostDoc Fellows, 11 PhD Students, and 1 Research Assistant. He has authored 60 peer-reviewed articles published in international journals and over 200 works in total.