Attitude determination and control system for small satellites

Abstract

The objective of this thesis is to propose and evaluate attitude determination methods and attitude control algorithms that take advantage of all onboard sensors and actuators. To achieve this goal, a MATLAB Simulink-based simulation environment was developed. Its primary purpose is to provide a platform for testing and tuning control algorithms. The simulation enables the implementation and evaluation of the attitude determination and control algorithms. The work focuses on preparing the simulation environment, proposing an attitude determination algorithm, and comparing several attitude control strategies.

PhotSat is a 16U CubeSat devoted to astronomical photometry in the design phase at the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia and the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya. Due to `its demanding pointing requirements the ADCS is one of the critical subsystems. In this Master Thesis, we explore different attitude control alternatives for fine attitude corrections and benchmark them. The possible actuators to be studied include but are not limited to, variable-reflectivity surfaces to leverage solar radiation pressure, moving masses and aerodynamic surfaces. In all cases, the control mechanisms studied will provide small corrections to the main actuators (reaction wheels).