Optimal design and implementation of coreless magnetic torque for Nano-satellites

Magnetorquer is an important, reliable and cost-effective implementation of the device for a Nano-satellite to control the attitude. In this paper, through the study of the design problems of some Nano-satellite´s magnetic torque of China, the design principle has been found that the size of the magnetic moment produced from the coreless magnetic torque is only related to the radius of the wire. Therefore, based on the principle, the paper also gives the optimal design of coreless magnetic torque under the constraints of quality and power consumption. The research has made the coils according to this method and also has designed the coil drive circuit using the principle of Pulse Width Modulation. The experimental results show that this magnetorquer has the qualities of low power consumption, low remanence and low cost, so it could well satisfy the attitude control of Nano-satellite.