Prototyping of an Open-Architecture CMG System
Abstract
The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the development of the next generation of spacecraft attitude control systems by designing and building a prototype open-architecture control moment gyroscope (CMG). The focus is on the CMG mechanism, with emphasis on the momentum wheel assembly. An open-architecture system enables customizable software configuration and allows for future system upgrades, component swapping and integration with other systems. This technical objective was approached through an iterative design process in which several mechanical design configurations were explored prior to the manufacturing of the final prototype. Issues related to the CMG mechanical design, the details of the CMG manufacturing process, including balancing requirements, and integration of the CMG components are discussed. Several experiments illustrate the performance of the CMG prototype. This newly designed CMG prototype will extend the capabilities of the NPS Reconfigurable Spacecraft Autonomy Testbed (R-SAT) simulator and enable demonstrations of advanced attitude control concepts for CMG spacecraft.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA573496
Entities
People
- Kerri L. Ackman
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School