The Distributed Spacecraft Attitude Control System Simulator (DSACSS) testbed at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University facilitates investigation of various control strategies for single and multiple spacecraft. DSACSS is comprised of two independent hardware-in-the-loop simulators and one software spacecraft simulator. The two hardware-in-theloop spacecraft simulators have similar...

The research presented in this report focuses on the spacecraft simulators, Whorl-I and Whorl-II, in the Space Systems Simulation Laboratory (SSSL) at Virginia Tech. The goal of this research is to develop a program to visualize the attitude of the simulators in real-time through Analytical Graphics Inc.’s Systems Tool Kit (STK). Spacecraft missions are high-risk and highexpense; therefore, ext...

The spacecraft simulator robust control through H∞-based linear matrix inequality (LMI) and robust adaptive method is  implemented. The spacecraft attitude control subsystem simulator consists of  a  platform, an air-bearing and a set of four reaction wheels. This set up provides a free real-time three degree of freedom rotation. Spacecraft simulators are applied in upgrading and checking the c...

Virginia Tech has developed a testbed comprised of two independent spherical air-bearing platforms for formation flying attitude control simulation, the Distributed Spacecraft Attitude Control System Simulator. The DSACSS is intended to support a wide range of functions; as such, requiring that all controllers be robust to approximations of the system parameters is impractical. We document the ...

Hardware and software architecture of a novel spacecraft Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) based on smartphones using Variable Speed Control Moment Gyroscope (VSCMG) as actuator is proposed here. A spacecraft ground simulator testbed for Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) attitude estimation and control with VSCMG is also described. The sensor breakouts with independent micro-controller ...

The research presented in this report focuses on the Whorl II spacecraft simulator in Virginia Tech’s Space Systems Simulation Laboratory (SSSL). The goal of this research is to improve the reliability and accuracy of the magnetometer aboard Whorl II that is used for attitude determination. Magnetic interference surrounding the simulator causes unacceptable margins of error its perceived attitu...

Mixed Control Moment Gyro and Momentum Wheel Attitude Control Strategies C. Eugene Skelton II Attitude control laws that use control moment gyros (CMGs) and momentum wheels are derived with nonlinear techniques. The control laws command the CMGs to provide rapid angular acceleration and the momentum wheels to reject tracking and initial condition errors. Numerical simulations of derived control...

Space based bifocal relay mirrors are potentially an enabling/enhancing piece of any architecture making use of longrange laser propagation. Inherent in the bifocal concept is dual line of sight control. This is especially challenging in this space-based application due to spacecraft attitude control issues. This paper presents a summary ofthe research into acquisition, tracking, pointing (ATP)...

A Satellite Attitude Dynamics Simulator (SADS) has been developed to facilitate the research and development of spacecraft flight attitude control software at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. The simulator provides a real-time 3 degree of freedom (3DOF) synthetic spacecraft hardware-in-the-loop environment, that includes realistic angular motions, sensor-effector delays, and contr...

Virginia Tech has developed a testbed comprised of two independent spherical air-bearing platforms for formation flying attitude control simulation, the Distributed Spacecraft Attitude Control System Simulator (DSACSS). The DSACSS provides the flexibility to experimentally implement many types of control techniques. Novel individual platform control options include nonlinear compensation of an ...