Spacecraft attitude control using control moment gyro reconfiguration

Abstract

The orientation of a satellite in space described relative to some other object or system is known as the attitude of the satellite. The attitude may be changing with time. To be able to control the attitude of the satellite, it must be equipped with actuators that can produce the required torque. Control Moment Gyroscope is a space craft control actuator which acts as torque amplifier. It is suitable for three axis slew manoeuvring by providing the necessary torques via gimbaling a spinning flywheel. Control Moment Gyroscope is considered to be more efficient in terms of power consumption and slew rate. A major drawback encountered with the use of the Control Moment Gyroscope is the possibility of singularities for certain combinations of gimbal angles. The objective of this work is to detect these singularities so that robust steering laws can be developed.