Attitude determination and control system design of the ITU-UUBF LEO1 satellite

Abstract

Abstract In this paper an attitude determination and control system for ITU-UUBF LEO1 satellite is proposed. To determine the attitude of the satellite this system uses algebraic method (2-vector algorithm). As a reference direction, the unit vectors toward the Sun and the Earth's center, and the Earth's magnetic field are used. Thus, it includes three different 2-vector algorithms based on using Earth's magnetic field–Sun vector, Earth's magnetic field–nadir vector, and nadir vector–Sun vector couples. A redundant data processing algorithm based on maximum likelihood was designed. The parameters of satellite's rotational motion are estimated using extended Kalman filter (EKF). For control purposes an EKF-based PD controller is designed. To reveal the performance of the designed system a simulation is made.