| The goal of this thesis is to design an attitude controller to 3-axis stabilize a rigid-body satellite. Four dual-axis gimbaled thrusters in a coplanar configuration are used to provide torque inputs. The satellite is in a geostationary orbit in its nominal operating phase. Attitude dynamics and attitude control system are modeled using Matlab and Simulink. The control system performance is analyzed to determine the applicability of using 4 dual-axis gimbaled thrusters, as an attitude control torque method, to meet a satellite's mission requirements. Simulation results indicated that the thrusters provided sufficient control torque; however, control system performance was affected by their discontinuous nonlinear behavior. In addition, this behavior imparted constraints on the controller design which revealed trade-offs between systems accuracy and response behavior. |
