Methodology for Software-in-the-Loop Testing of Low-Cost Attitude Determination Systems

Methodology for Software-in-the-Loop Testing of Low-Cost Attitude Determination Systems

Proper functioning of attitude determination systems is indispensable to many CubeSats. Avoiding failure in these systems is paramount to the success of these missions. To increase on-orbit reliability, extensive testing of attitude determination systems in a representative operational environment is necessary. However, a survey of the relevant literature on CubeSat attitude determination systems using low-cost gyroscopes and magnetometers shows a lack of extensive system-level testing documentation. To address this shortcoming, this paper discusses the development of easily implementable software-in-the-loop testing procedures for CubeSat attitude determination systems. The proposed approach uses a Helmholtz cage to simulate the on-orbit magnetic field environment. The outlined procedure tests an attitude determination algorithm that uses data from 3-axis magnetometers, 3-axis gyroscopes and GPS. This paper describes the test procedure, provides attitude determination test results obtained using the developed methodology, and suggests improvements for future systems.