Session
Technical Session VIII: Frank J. Redd Student Scholarship Competition
Abstract
Attitude determination options are limited on a CubeSat due to power, mass, and volume constraints. This report documents the design and implementation of an extended Kalman filter (EKF) for attitude estimation using three-axis magnetometer and two-axis solar cell measurements. The motivation for such a system is to utilize sensors already present on most CubeSats, namely three-axis magnetometers for active magnetic detumbling and four faces of solar cell arrays for power generation. The system is developed and simulation-tested on a 1-U CubeSat in a 600 km dawn-dusk orbit. Results show the system can converge to an attitude accuracy of 2.5˚ within 1 orbit after detumbling.
Presentation Slides
CubeSat Attitude Determination via Kalman Filtering of Magnetometer and Solar Cell Data
Attitude determination options are limited on a CubeSat due to power, mass, and volume constraints. This report documents the design and implementation of an extended Kalman filter (EKF) for attitude estimation using three-axis magnetometer and two-axis solar cell measurements. The motivation for such a system is to utilize sensors already present on most CubeSats, namely three-axis magnetometers for active magnetic detumbling and four faces of solar cell arrays for power generation. The system is developed and simulation-tested on a 1-U CubeSat in a 600 km dawn-dusk orbit. Results show the system can converge to an attitude accuracy of 2.5˚ within 1 orbit after detumbling.
