Journal of Technology in Aerospace Engineering

Journal of Technology in Aerospace Engineering

Automatic Mass Balancing of Spacecraft Attitude Simulator by Parameter Estimation and Linear Control

Document Type : Research Article

Authors
Mohammad Barati 1
Mehdi Sabzehparvar 2
Mohammad Navabi 3
1 Ph. D. Candidate, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
3 Associate Professor, Faculty of New Technologies Engineering, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/jtae.2024.8.2.5
Abstract
In order to perform attitude control ground experiments, it is crucial to ensure the center of mass of the platform coincides with the center of rotation as accurately as possible. In this paper, a linearized dynamic model of the imbalanced attitude platform is derived, and a linear controller is methodically designed to stabilize the system by mass relocation. The stability conditions of the system under the proposed controller are derived. The balancing procedure starts with a parameter estimation method to estimate the center of mass offsets. Next, the PD controller is applied to align the platform’s horizontal plane with the local horizontal level. Finally, the imbalance in the vertical axis can be estimated and compensated to complete the automatic mass balancing. Actuator limitations and nonlinear equations of motion are implemented in numerical simulations, and the results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in significantly reducing the residual imbalance torque on the simulated platform. 
Keywords
Automatic Mass Balancing
Spacecraft Attitude Simulator
Parameter Estimation
Linear Control
Subjects
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  • Receive Date 08 August 2023
  • Revise Date 07 September 2023
  • Accept Date 19 September 2023
  • First Publish Date 18 October 2023