Optimal Initial Gimbal Angles for Agile Slew Maneuvers with Control Moment Gyroscopes

Geshnizjani, Ramin T.; Kornienko, Andrei; Ziegler, T.; Loehr, Johannes; Fichter, Walter

doi:10.2514/6.2019-0936

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 8 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The singularity-robust inverse is the most common, but other methods, including null motion and path planning, have also been proposed [9][10][11]. In general, the method of planning the path of a manoeuvre also includes the optimisation of the initial configuration of the gimbals before the execution of the desired manoeuvre in order to enhance the performance of the system and provide a singularity-free trajectory [12][13][14]. A different path-planning technique that blends the pseudo-spectral and direct-shooting methods upon gimbal saturation and singularity constraints was presented in [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Gimballed Control Moment Gyroscope Cluster Design for Spacecraft Attitude Control

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper addresses the problem of singularity avoidance in a cluster of four Single-Gimbal Control Moment Gyroscopes (SGCMGs) in a pyramid configuration when used for the attitude control of a satellite by introducing a new gimballed control moment gyroscope (GCMG) cluster scheme. Four SGCMGs were used in a pyramid configuration, along with an additional small and simple stepper motor that was used to gimbal the full cluster around its vertical (z) axis. Contrary to the use of four variable-speed control moment gyroscopes (VSCMGs), where eight degrees of freedom are available for singularity avoidance, the proposed GCMG design uses only five degrees of freedom (DoFs), and a modified steering law was designed for the new setup. The proposed design offers the advantages of SGCMGs, such as a low weight, size, and reduced complexity, with the additional benefit of overcoming the internal elliptic singularities, which create a minor attitude error. A comparison with the four-VSCMG cluster was conducted through numerical simulations, and the results indicated that the GCMG design was considerably more efficient in terms of power while achieving a better gimbal configuration at the end of the simulation, which is essential when it is desired for different manoeuvres to be consecutively executed. Additionally, for a nano-satellite of a few kilograms, the results prove that it is feasible to manufacture the GCMG concept by using affordable and lightweight commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) stepper motors.

show abstract