Design and Comparison of Attitude Control Modes for ESTCube-2
Date
2017
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Tartu Ülikool
Abstract
This thesis presents the attitude control problem of ESTCube-2. ESTCube-2 is a
3U CubeSat with a size of 10 x 10 x 30 cm and a weight of about 4 kg. It is the
second satellite to be developed by the ESTCube Team and will be equipped with
the E-Sail payload for the plasma break experiment, Earth observation camera, a
high speed communication system, and a cold gas propulsion module. The satellite
will make use of 3 electromagnetic coils, 3 reaction wheels and the cold gas thruster
as actuators.
The primary purpose of this work was to develop and compare control laws to ful ll
the attitude control requirements of the ESTCube-2 mission. To achieve this, the
spacecraft dynamics and environmental models are derived and analyzed. PD like
controllers and LQR optimal controls are designed to ful ll the pointing requirements
of the satellite in addition to the B-dot detumbling control law. Angular
rate control law to spin up the satellite for tether deployment is also derived and
presented. Simulations of the di erent controllers shows the performance with disturbances
also added to the system. Finally recommendations and optimal control
situations are presented based on the results.
Description
Keywords
CubeSat, ESTCube-2, Attitude Control, High spin rate, LQR