Dynamics and control of a tri‐axis satellite attitude simulator

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a tri‐axis spacecraft simulator to simulate the three‐axis attitude motion of a satellite and for ground‐based hardware‐in‐the‐loop simulation.

Design/methodology/approach

The structure of tri‐axis satellite attitude simulator is designed first. Full dynamic model is then derived. Based on the dynamic model, a simple proportional‐integral‐derivative controller is developed and applied to control the motion of simulator.

Findings

The effectiveness of the proposed simulator configuration has been verified through numerical simulations. The tri‐axis simulator can follow the satellite attitude motion precisely.

Originality/value

This paper is valuable for researchers working on the development of tri‐axis spacecraft attitude simulator. This work is original. The simulator configuration has been applied to a satellite mission that was launched successfully in 2006.

Citation

Shan, J. (2010), "Dynamics and control of a tri‐axis satellite attitude simulator", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 82 No. 2, pp. 116-125. https://doi.org/10.1108/00022661011053418