Abstract
We present a satellite attitude control system design using low-cost hardware and software for a 1U CubeSat. The attitude control system architecture is a crucial subsystem for any satellite mission since precise pointing is often required to meet mission objectives. The accuracy and precision requirements are even more challenging for small satellites where limited volume, mass, and power are available for the attitude control system hardware. In this proposed embedded attitude control system design for a 1U CubeSat, pointing is obtained through a two-stage approach involving coarse and fine control modes. Fine control is achieved through the use of three reaction wheels or three magnetorquers and one reaction wheel along the pitch axis. Significant design work has been conducted to realize the proposed architecture. In this paper, we present an overview of the embedded attitude control system design; the verification results from numerical simulation studies to demonstrate the performance of a CubeSat-class nanosatellite; and a series of air-bearing verification tests on nanosatellite attitude control system hardware that compares the performance of the proposed nonlinear controller with a proportional-integral-derivative controller.
Highlights
IntroductionThe development of nanosatellites (with a mass of 1–10 kg) is currently a significant trend in the area of space science and engineering research
The development of nanosatellites is currently a significant trend in the area of space science and engineering research
The proposed attitude control system design will allow inexpensive and capable satellites to be developed for academic use
Summary
The development of nanosatellites (with a mass of 1–10 kg) is currently a significant trend in the area of space science and engineering research. Full-scale satellite attitude control systems are generally too large or too expensive to be installed in CubeSat-class nanosatellites [1], so passive attitude control systems have usually been used for nanosatellites in the past [2, 3]. More active attitude control subsystems [4] in CubeSat-class nanosatellites have been implemented with the development of suitable actuators like magnetorquers (torque coils or torque rods) and small-sized reaction wheels [5, 6]. Commercial nanosatellite torque rods and reaction wheels are too expensive for use in many research nanosatellite projects. The contributions of this research are the development of ACS hardware from off-the-shelf components, complete simulation of the ACS system, and validation testing of the ACS system for attitude control in the lab environment
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