Research And Design Of A Spacecraft Attitude Control Simulator System

Along with the development of the aerospace technology, the next generation of spacecraft will have an unprecedented degree of autonomy and pointing accuracy. However, launching a spacecraft is a high-cost, high-risk venture. One way to mitigate much of this risk is to demonstrate hardware and algorithm performance in ground-based test-beds. It is typically difficult to experimentally replicate spacecraft dynamics in an Earth-bound laboratory because of the influences of gravity and friction. An air bearing provides a very low-torque environment for experimentation, thereby recapturing the freedom of the space environment as effectively as possible. Depending upon configuration, air-bearing systems provide some combination of translational and rotational freedom; the three degrees of rotational freedom provided by a spherical air bearing are ideal for investigation of spacecraft attitude dynamics and control problems.This thesis has researched the design and control of a new triaxial air-bearing experimental system. In this thesis, the attitude determination and the attitude dynamics and control of the system was focused on. In the base of rigid body kinematics, the equations of attitude computation was developed via the IMU sensor's output, and a new method of the integrated attitude determination using gyroscope's dynamic output and accelerometer's static output was presented. Based on the development of triaxial air-bearing test-bed's attitude dynamics equations, this thesis has established a mathematic model of the control systems, then the analysis and simulation were done, at last the basic experiment was performed.