Development of algorithms for attitude determination and control of the AsteroidFinder satellite

Abstract

The following diploma thesis is related to the AsteroidFinder/SSB project of the German Aerospace Center (DLR). AsteroidFinder/SSB is a compact satellite that will be used for detecting asteroids with an optical payload (telescope). Especially the objects that are completely inside the Earth orbit are of interest. The task of detecting weak light sources like asteroids places challenging requirements to the Attitude Control System (ACS). Therefore the AsteroidFinder/SSB needs to be stabilised and controlled by an active there axis ACS. A preliminary design was established during Phase 0/A of the project. Based on these results the following diploma thesis focus on the development of the attitude determination and control algorithm. Therefore a simulation environment is programmed and two different KALMAN filters are investigated as attitude determination algorithms. These are the extended KALMAN filter and the unscented KALMAN filter. Afterwards a guidance strategy is derived to reach the main mission goals. It is followed by the development of an attitude control strategy which is based on linear quadric GAUSSIAN control. At the end the algorithm functionality is validated through simulation.