A 3-DoF satellite simulator design and development

Abstract

The dynamics and control of satellite have been widely studied, because of their technological significance. There are many tools to observe or examine spacecraft control laws and one of the most common of them is simulation. Simulation has been used for educating students and users, too. Many solutions exist to the problem of simulating the functional space environment, for example: underwater test tanks, magnetic suspension systems and also air-bearings. Spherical air-bearings have been used for spacecraft attitude determination and control hardware verification and software development for nearly 50 years, because they provide frictionless environment and unrestricted motion. In spherical air bearings, pressurized air passes through holes in the grounded section of bearing (cup) and establishes a thin film that supports the weight of sphere. The purpose of this article is to describe a laboratory-based test-bed that will be used to explore various issues and concepts in spacecraft dynamics and control. The main components of this facility are spherical air-bearing, three-axial sensor, battery, on-board processor and three reaction wheels. All of these subsystems have been designed and manufactured by our team in Space Research Lab., because of some limitations in preparing them from foreign companies.