PREDICTED PERFORMANCE OF ON-OFF SYSTEMS FOR PRECISE SATELLITE ATTITUDE CONTROL
Abstract
An investigation has been made of the use of on-off reaction jets for precision attitude control of a satellite. Since a symmetrical vehicle is assumed, only single-axis control needs to be considered. The responses to initial disturbances and also limit-cycle characteristics for several systems have been evaluated. Calculated results indicate that realistic values of settling time and fuel consumption for the example considered can be obtained. The performance of a given system depends on the characteristics of the error detector used. In cases where the detector output was saturated for a relatively low error input, the settling time deteriorated when a lead network was used to provide damping. This deterioration could be eliminated if a separate rate signal to produce vehicle rate limiting were available. As an alternate approach, two systems were investigated which used a timed sequence of torques and could operate with a detector output of very small linear range. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 1961
- Accession Number
- AD0260542
Entities
People
- Stuart C. Brown
Organizations
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration