Integration of a Motion Capture System into a Spacecraft Simulator for Real-Time Attitude Control
Abstract
The Attitude Control System Proving Ground (ACSPG) is a three-degree-of-freedom spacecraft simulator mounted on a low-friction spherical air bearing. It is designed to test the behavior of integrated hardware and software for attitude determination and control systems (ADCS). These systems require external references, such as the positions of stars and the direction of the Earths magnetic field, to maintain accurate attitude estimation, but on Earth, such references are difficult to emulate in hardware. Therefore, the ACSPG testbed has been integrated with a Phase-Space Impulse X2 motion capture system. This system calculates the testbeds inertial attitude, which can be used to simulate various sensors and to validate attitude estimation performance. This paper describes the suite of software programs that has been developed to transmit, receive, log and analyze attitude and performance data. This software architecture makes it possible for the ACSPGs ADCS to wirelessly receive inertial attitude data in near real time and provides diagnostic tools to aid in debugging the system and characterizing its performance.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 16, 2016
- Accession Number
- AD1017857
Entities
People
- Benjamin L. Reifler
- Dylan R. Penn
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory