Evaluation of Attitude Estimation Algorithm under Soft Error Effects

Abstract

The space industry has been launching nanosatellites in order to reduce the weight of the payload and monitor space at a lower cost benefit than a conventional satellite. In this context, the use of Attitude Estimation (AE) algorithms have become more and more important. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of a processing system running an AE algorithm under an emulation-based fault injection campaign. This method is able to emulate soft errors directly in the development board's registers and allows to put in evidence critical situations, such as the wrong calculation of a reference component in space. Results and preliminary analysis suggest a predominance of matches in general-purpose registers and some failures in those called frame point, demanding extended fault injection campaign to identify further details.