A framework for developing an attitude determination and control system simulator for Cubesats: Processor-in-loop testing approach

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The outbreak of miniaturized satellites is increasingly demanding well-performing attitude determination and control systems (ADCS). Testing an ADCS directly using hardware is extremely costly and risky, whereas testing it using only computer simulation does not yield realistic enough results. Therefore, a detailed framework for developing an ADCS simulator with processor-in-the-loop testing for low-earth orbit Cubesats is established in this paper. In particular, the study focuses on the implementation of the algorithms on a STM32 with ARM Cortex CPU for efficient testing and prototyping. This is done by formulating a quaternion-based satellite dynamic model equiped with a three-axis magnetorquers and a set of pyramidal cluster of reaction wheels for high pointing capabilities. Prominently used sensors are modeled so that the attitude can be estimated using a multiplicative extended Kalman filter. For attitude control, several modes are developed based on different mission stages, and a simplified less burdensome control switching strategy is proposed to maintain stability with minimal computation and energy resources. To test the applicability of the simulator, an ADCS is designed to meet the requirements of the recent low-atmosphere measurement missions. The results are analyzed in accordance with the ESA ECSS standards, and the assessment shows that the specifications can be met with a safe margin, leaving room for unmodeled errors to be taken into account in later stages of the design. Additionally, the proposed control strategy gives various possibilities for missions with different types of objectives, furthermore the framework's flexibility provides easy modification of any part for the user's specific needs.