Single-Axis Hardware in the Loop Experiment Verification of ADCS for Low Earth Orbit Cube-Satellite
Abstract
A 2U cube satellite called SNUGLITE has been developed by GNSS Research Laboratory in Seoul National University. Its main mission is to perform actual operation by mounting dual-frequency global positioning system (GPS) receivers. Its scientific mission aims to observe space environments and collect data. It is essential for a cube satellite to control an Earth-oriented attitude for reliable and successful data transmission and reception. To this end, an attitude estimation and control algorithm, Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS), has been implemented in the on-board computer (OBC) processor in real time. In this paper, the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) was employed as the attitude estimation algorithm. For the attitude control technique, the Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG) was utilized. The algorithm was verified through the processor in the loop simulation (PILS) procedure. To validate the ADCS algorithm in the ground, the experimental verification via a single axis Hardware-in-the-loop simulation (HILS) was used due to the simplicity and cost effectiveness, rather than using the 3-axis HILS verification (Schwartz et al. 2003) with complex air-bearing mechanism design and high cost.
Hanjoon Shim
Postdoctoral Researcher
