ARCHITECTURE FOR UNCONSTRAINED 3-AXIS ATTITUDE DETERMINATION AND CONTROL TEST BED

A new approach for verification and validation (V&V) of attitude determination and control systems (ADCS) is presented. The proposed technique may significantly advance testing methodologies for responsive space missions and also provide a test bed for V&V of small satellite ADCS that is currently non-existent. Unlike the conventional approach, the proposed method uses a combination of a proprietary torque sensing platform and an attitude determination facility. The output of the torque sensors is used in the simulation of a spacecraft dynamic model on a computer. The attitude determination facility, which can be located remotely from the torque sensing platform, simulates a dynamic environment (e.g., star field) based on the output from the computer used by stationary sensors to determine the attitude. The approach also provides the ability to perform V&V of the ADCS hardware in thermal and vacuum environments.