TESTS USING AN AIR BEARING SIMULATOR FOR ATTITUDE CONTROL SYSTEMS

摘要

As part of validating a series of attitude control software and hardware for rockets and spacecrafts, an Attitude Control System Air Bearing Simulator (ACBS) has been developed. The ACBS is a very low cost system that has the capability of generating tri-axis angular motion on the vehicle to evaluate the overall performance of the attitude control subsystem, allowing to include real or simulated hardware in the loop (sensors and actuators), space environments, failures, delays, overlapping the events, etc. The test specimen is suspended in air by a spherical air bearing which gives us a practically frictionless motion to allow free rotation of the test specimen about any rotation axis. The design versatility is robust enough to allow modifications in the kind, quantity and configuration of sensors, actuators and the corresponding control software. The first practical use of this Simulator is for a sounding rocket project of the Argentine Space Agency (CoNAE). This paper discusses this specific application and the further uses of enhancements suitable for spacecraft developments and for academic applications.