Performance simulation of I-PD based ADCS for earth observation micro satellite

Abstract

The use of micro satellite for earth observation has growth significantly. Some industries and research institutions around the world develop its technologies. One of the important micro satellite technologies is Attitude Determination Control System (ADCS). ADCS typically consists of three operation modes which are initialization mode, detumbling mode and normal mode. These modes effect satellite attitude orientation determination. Due to the complexity of satellite orientation dynamics, design of ADCS becomes more complex and it is not easy to test the performances. The aim of this paper is to design a control method for ADCS. The control method is based on Integrative-Proportional Derivative (I-PD) type control which its parameters are determined to make satellite orientation track following preset direction. The performance of proposed controller is evaluated using satellite simulator which its parameters of simulation model are obtained from real satellite system. The simulator consists of some modules including reaction wheels, power supply system and onboard data handling systems. To test the performance of proposed ADCS control, detumbling test and target pointing test has been conducted. From simulation results, it is obvious that I-PD based ADCS has shown good enough performance.