Fuel tank temperature control of a time-varying CubeSat model

Abstract

The temperature control of the fuel tank of a small satellite (CubeSat) model is proposed in this paper. The control goal is to track a constant reference temperature to avoid fluctuations caused by the periodic disturbances. The thermal model is given in the form of nonlinear time-varying differential equations. The surface coating of the satellite is chosen specifically to support the active control design. The simulation results show that the design requirements can be satisfied by an appropriately tuned PID controller using an anti-windup scheme.