A Three Degrees of Freedom Test Bed for Nanosatellite and CubeSat Attitude Dynamics, Determination, and Control

This thesis presents the design and construction of a test-bed suitable for test and evaluation (T&E) of the Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) for a nanosatellite. This work briefly reviews the Navy’s use of satellites
and considers the role of nanosatellites within that context. A survey of three-axis simulators precedes the development of an adaptive mass-balancing algorithm capable of effectively eliminating gravitational torques on a three-axis simulator without momentum exchange devices. This is followed by the design and construction of a testbed for validation of the mass-balancing algorithm.
Although primarily designed for integration within the NPS TINYSCOPE project, this test-bed’s application reaches beyond TINYSCOPE to any payload onboard a nanosat requiring attitude control. The test-bed, based on the Cubesat standard, is modular and allows any ADCS, containable within a 1U (10 cm cube) space, to go through T&E prior to launch including, but not limited to, stability, pointing accuracy, and nadir tracking.