Hardware-in-the-loop simulation of satellite large angle rapid maneuver attitude control

The satellite flight dynamics simulator for control is a laboratory system designed for the purpose of developing and testing attitude control algorithms in a low-risk, low-cost environment. This paper presents the details for the design and construction of a novel hardware-in-the-loop simulator for satellite attitude control, including hardware and software. A nonlinear attitude control algorithm which combines reaction flywheel and thrusters for satellite large angle rapid maneuver is presented. To validate the correctness of the simulator and algorithm, the paper carries out the corresponding hardware-in-the-loop simulation on single-axis air bearing table. Simulation results indicate that the simulator is able to support the experiment and the algorithm can efficiently accomplish attitude maneuver task in shorter time with less fuel consumption compared with reaction flywheel or thrusters only.