Design and development of 3-axis reaction wheel for STUDSAT-2

This paper describes the designing, detailed motion and frequency analysis and brief control approach of nano reaction wheels that has to be used as an actuator for STUDSAT-2. The designing part comprises of designing a flywheel, tetrahedral configuration explanation and the motor selection. The worst case disturbance modeling is done to design the flywheel considering the four primary environmental disturbances namely aerodynamic drag, solar radiation, magnetic residual and gravity gradient. Using the design parameters a study is performed with the goal of minimizing mass of the flywheel. Furthermore, the design configuration is used to derive the relation between the torques produced on the 3 axis of the satellite. The detailed explanation of structure is done and both static and dynamic frequency analysis results are obtained. A detailed slew rate analysis is done to obtain the relation between the angular momentum gained by the satellite and the torque exerted through the reaction wheel motors. The Flat Brushless DC motor chosen for the project is modeled mathematically and open loop analysis is done by drawing the necessary plots. Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) error control parameters are obtained for stable performance of the motor.