Design of the Attitude Estimation Algorithms for the GT-1
CubeSat
Author(s)
Guecha-Ahumada, Nelson G.
Advisor(s)
Editor(s)
Collections
Supplementary to:
Permanent Link
Abstract
GT-1 is the first of four 1U CubeSats under development by the Georgia Institute of
Technology’s Space Systems Design Laboratory (SSDL). Its main objective is to prove the
feasibility of an inexpensive spacecraft bus designed and fabricated by students in just over
a year. Given the mass, volume and cost constraints; the sensor suite is limited to low-cost
Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components such as Coarse Sun Sensors, a Magnetometer,
an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), and a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. A
6-Degree-of-Freedom (6-DOF) simulation of GT-1 was created to develop sensor models and
estimation algorithms. Two static attitude determination methods, TRIAD and Davenport’s Q Method were developed and evaluated using the 6-DOF simulation. In addition, an Extended
Kalman Filter (EKF) was developed using the same simulation environment to provide a
sequential attitude estimation framework capable of propagating the attitude dynamics and
correcting the attitude estimate. This document acts as a survey of reliable attitude estimation
techniques and algorithms that can be implemented on an elementary mission profile based on
a modest sensor suite
Sponsor
Date
2020-05-01
Extent
Resource Type
Text
Resource Subtype
Masters Project
Rights Statement
Unless otherwise noted, all materials are protected under U.S. Copyright Law and all rights are reserved