Title: Developing a sample cubesat with a magnetic-based control system
By: Zeinab Soltani
Supervisor: Dr. Mehran Mirshams
Chairmen: Dr. Masoud Ebrahimi (Tarbiat Modares University), Dr. Morteza Tayefi (K. N. Toosi University of Technology)
September 16, 2019
Abstract: According to the high cost of manufacturing and launching a satellite, confirming the accurate functionality of each subsystem is extremely momentous. So, many tests are supposed to be done to validate the performance of a satellite. One of the most significant subsystems of a satellite, that should be tested before its launch, is the attitude determination and control system (ADCS). For this purpose, a testbed must be prepared to simulate the environmental conditions of the space for the satellite. The zero-gravity condition is simulated using an air bearing, and a Helmholtz cage simulates the magnetic field that the satellite will face on the orbit. Different control modes are applied to the satellite during its mission. After the satellite is separated from the launch vehicle, the detumbling mode will decrease its angular velocities using magnetic actuators to prepare it for other required control modes on its mission. The purpose of this project was to manufacture and test a sample magnetic-based cubesat (a category of the satellites with specified standards) and test the functionality of the magnetorquers in the detumbling mode. Two sets of magnetorquers were tested using the prepared testbed and showed that the magnetorquers would damp the angular velocities of the cubesat in less than 20 minutes to approximately 0.5 degrees per second.