LOW COST SPACECRAFT ATTITUDE DETERMINATION FOR CUBESAT TYPE MISSIONS Conference Paper

abstract

• We present a method for performing low cost attitude estimation for CubeSat type missions. Our algorithm uses measurements from a custom built sun sensor, a star camera, and inertial measurements. These sensing measurements are supplied in real-time to a Multiplicative Kalman Filter for the purpose of generating continuous attitude estimates. The testing and validation of this algorithm is done in the Land, Air, and Space Robotics Laboratory at Texas A&M University, using our custom three degrees-of-freedom attitude test-bed interfacing with a suspended target emulation pendulum. The algorithm is implemented using low cost commercial off-the-shelf hardware and open-source libraries for the required vision based localization. This low cost, low power and small-scale attitude estimation technology is ideal for use on CubeSats and ChipSats. Our algorithm is designed to be part of a suite of tools that is currently being developed at the lab for attitude estimation and control.

authors

• Hurtado, John
• Junkins, John

published proceedings

• GUIDANCE, NAVIGATION, AND CONTROL 2016

author list (cited authors)

• Goecks, V. G., Probe, A., Woollands, R., Hurtado, J. E., & Junkin, J. L.

complete list of authors

• Goecks, Vinicius Guimaraes||Probe, Austin||Woollands, Robyn||Hurtado, John E||Junkin, John L

publication date

• January 2016

published in

• Spaceflight Mechanics 2005, Vol 120, Pts 1 and 2  Journal

International Standard Book Number (ISBN) 13

• 978-0-87703-631-9

start page

• 57

end page

• 70

volume

• 157