Reaction Wheel Control, Testing and Failure Analysis for
STUDSAT-2
Divyanshu Sahay, G S Tejaswini, Santosh K, Yuvaraj S, Rakshit
Dr S Sandya, Kannan T, Department of R&D
Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology
Bangalore-560064, India
divyanshu.udaysahay@gmail.com
Abstract²This paper describes the attitude control approach
of a nanosatellite in different scenarios of reaction wheel
failure. The approach to allocate the control torques across the
4 wheels is explained considering the cases of one and two
wheel failures. A Linear Quadratic Regulator is used to find
the gains of the Proportional Derivative (PD) controller
employed to determine the control torques to be generated by
the reaction wheels in order to correct a specific attitude error
and damp angular rates. The different analysis done in
attempts to stabilize the satellite for all the aforesaid conditions
has been presented. The paper also describes the electrical
modeling of Brushless DC motor to get the transfer function
and obtain P, I (Integral) and D parameters for optimum
motor performance. ARM STM32F407 is used as the main
microcontroller for the satellite. The operation flow of the
implementation of control approach is explained. An account
of different interfaces and peripheral used to realize control
system design is described.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................... 1
2. REACTION WHEEL TORQUE ALLOCATION .......... 1
3. LINEAR QUADRATIC REGULATOR ........................ 2
4. SATELLITE MODELING .......................................... 3
5. ATTITUDE CONTROL .............................................. 4
6. BLDC MODELING .................................................. 5
7. BLDC TUNING ........................................................ 8
8. IMPLEMENTATION ................................................ 10
9. SUMMARY ............................................................. 10
APPENDIX.................................................................. 10
A. TORQUE ALLOCATION MATRICES ..................... 10
REFERENCES............................................................. 11
BIOGRAPHY .............................................................. 11
1. INTRODUCTION
Student Satellites provide students and young researchers
the opportunity to understand the complexity and challenges
that satellite development comes with. Low Cost, minimum
development time and competency to address wide range of
application has enabled them to find a place in space
industry.STUDSAT-2 (Student Satellite) is such a mission
by a group of students at Nitte Meenakshi Institute of
Technology, Bangalore, India with a mission objective to
design a Twin-Nanosatellite to establish Inter Satellite
Communication after performing an In-Orbit Separation.
978-5090-1613-6/17//$31.00 ©2017 IEEE
1
Furthermore, the mission aims to de-orbit one of the Twins,
STUDSAT-2B, using a drag sail after mission life and
image earth with the one left orbiting i.e. STUDSAT-2A.
Such an elaborate mission design requires the Attitude
Determination and Control Subsystem (ADCS) to be robust
and failsafe. Either of the twin satellites have different
ADCS configuration. Among sensors, STUDSAT-2A hosts
four sun sensors, a magnetometer and a gyro. STUDSAT-
2B has all of them except Sun Sensors as it does not have
imaging requirements. Both the satellites have a tetrahedral
Reaction Wheel and three orthogonally placed Magnetic
Torquer Coils. The paper will discuss in detail about the
different tests and analysis done for the reaction wheel
actuator arrangement selected for the mission.
2. REACTION WHEEL TORQUE ALLOCATION
A control law aims at designing a controller that would take
minimum control energy to take the output of a system to a
desired state. Selection of a control approach depends upon
the control law used and the actuator selected. Most
commonly used actuators include reaction wheels, control
momentum gyros, thrusters, torquer etc. In STUDSAT-2,
Tetrahedral Reaction wheels are used primarily because of
three reasons. First, the wheel configuration can help attain
a Zero momentum bias arrangement. Second, the
configuration can sustain the failure of one wheel and third,
the arrangement can produce double the amount of
maximum torque on an axis than that of single wheel [1].
Figure 1, taken from [1] shows the schematic arrangement
of the wheel.
The control approach should use a control law to find the
torque to be produced by the four wheels for a particular
attitude acquisition. In STUDSAT-2 the Linear Quadratic
Regulator is used to determine the gains of a PD control law
employed to reduce the attitude errors by optimum use of
control torque. This will be explained in detail in following
sections. This section is dedicated to explain the process of
torque allocation in the four tetrahedral wheels for a specific
three axis torque requirement.
A three axis stabilized system has three degrees of freedom
along which the torques are generated to reorient the axes to
the desired one.
 Moore-Penrose Pseudo Inverse
The Moore±Penrose (MP) Pseudo inverse method is used to
compute the least square solution to the system of linear
equation without a unique solution.The MP Pseudo inverse
can be used to calculate the allocation matrix, ߬, from the
system of linear equations represented by Eq.5 and Eq.6.

For an over actuated system the MP Pseudo inverse can be

directly calculated for ‫ ܦ‬by

‫ܦ‬᪽ ൌ ‫ ் ܦ‬ሺ‫ ்ܦܦ‬ሻିଵ  (7)

and for an under actuated system the MP Pseudo inverse can

be given by

Figure 1. Tetrahedral Wheel Schematic ‫ܦ‬᪽ ൌ ሺ‫ܦ ்ܦ‬ሻିଵ ‫்ܦ‬ (8)

With four wheels at disposal, it becomes an over actuated Where, ‫ܦ‬᪽ represents the pseudo inverse of ‫ܦ‬
system control problem.
This paper gives an account of the study made for reaction
For a tetrahedral wheel schematic the reaction wheel torques wheel failure cases, so the allocation matrix ߬ should be
are distributed along the satellite body axes as follows, calculated for one and two wheel failures. In either of the
failure cases the column corresponding to the failed wheel is
ܶ௫ ൌ  ܶଵ …‘•ሺͳͻǤͶ͹ͳሻ െ ܶଶ …‘•ሺͳͻǤͶ͹ͳሻ…‘•ሺ͸Ͳሻ െ first removed from the distribution matrix and the resulting
ܶଷ …‘•ሺͳͻǤͶ͹ͳሻ…‘•ሺ͸Ͳሻ (1) matrix is evaluated for being invertible. If true, then the
inverse is calculated for the same, if not then the MP Pseudo
ܶ௬ ൌ  ܶଶ …‘•ሺͳͻǤͶ͹ͳሻ…‘•ሺ͵Ͳሻ െ inverse is used. The column corresponding to the failed
ܶଷ …‘•ሺͳͻǤͶ͹ͳሻ…‘•ሺ͵Ͳሻ (2) wheel in the inverted matrix is appended with zeros to give
the final torque allocation matrix߬.
ܶ௭ ൌ െܶଵ •‹ሺͳͻǤͶ͹ͳሻ െ ܶଶ •‹ሺͳͻǤͶ͹ ͳሻ െ
ܶଷ …‘•ሺͳͻǤͶ͹ͳሻ  ൅ ܶସ ሻ (3) Normal Operation²As mentioned above, with all the
wheels functioning as expected, the torque allocation matrix
is obtained by finding the MP Pseudo Inverse from Eq.7.
where ܶ௫ , ܶ௬ and ܶ௭ are the torque of the body axes and ܶଵ ,
ܶଶ , ܶଷ and ܶସ are the reaction wheel torques. From this, it
One Wheel Failure²For one wheel failure, the resulting
can be written,
distribution matrix after removing the column
் corresponding to the failed wheel is invertible. So, the
ൣܶ௫ ǡ ܶ௬ǡ ܶ௭ ൧ ൌ ‫ܦ‬ሾܶଵ ǡ ܶଶ Ǥ ܶଷǡ ܶସ ሿ் (4) inverse is calculated and the column corresponding to the
failed wheel is appended with zero to find the torque
Eq. 4 can further be generalised as, allocation matrix. Four matrices are obtained for each of the
wheel failure cases.
ܶ௖ሺଷൈଵሻ ൌ ‫ܦ‬ሺଷൈସሻ ܶோሺସൈଵሻ (5)
Two Wheel Failure²For two wheel failure, the resulting
Where, ‫ ܦ‬is the distribution matrix given by, distribution matrix has to be inverted by the MP Pseudo
Inverse method from Eq.8. Six cases are possible for
…‘•ሺͳͻǤͶ͹ͳሻ െ…‘•ሺͳͻǤͶ͹ͳሻ…‘•ሺ͸Ͳሻ Ȃ…‘•ሺͳͻǤͶ͹ͳሻ…‘•ሺ͸Ͳሻ Ͳ following combination of wheel failures, (1st and 2nd), (1st
‫ܦ‬ൌ቎ Ͳ …‘•ሺͳͻǤ Ͷ͹ͳሻ…‘•ሺ͵Ͳሻ െ …‘•ሺͳͻǤͶ͹ͳሻ…‘•ሺ͵Ͳሻ Ͳ቏
െ•‹ሺͳͻǤͶ͹ͳሻ െ•‹ሺͳͻǤ Ͷ͹ͳሻ െ•‹ሺͳͻǤͶ͹ͳሻ ͳ
and 3rd), (1st and 4th), (2nd and 3rd), (2nd and 4th) and (3rd and
4th). The torque allocation matrices obtained is tabulated in
For an actuation problem, the control law gives the control Appendix.
torque, ܶ௖ to be allocated among the reaction wheels. It can
be written as,
3. LINEAR QUADRATIC REGULATOR
ܶோ ൌ ߬ܶ௖ (6)
A Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) finds a controller that
where ߬is the torque allocation matrix. It is evident from the would minimize the controlled output, ‫ݖ‬ሺ‫ݐ‬ሻ, of a system at
discussion made above that ߬ will not have a unique the minimum expense of the control signal, ‫ݑ‬ሺ‫ݐ‬ሻ. This is
solution. called optimum regulation.

2
Considering the energy of the controlled output as For such a system the LQR criterion in Eq.9 can be written
in a more general form as
ஶ
න ԡ‫ݖ‬ሺ‫ݐ‬ሻԡଶ ݀‫ݐ‬ ஶ
଴ ‫ܬ‬௅ொோ ൌ ‫׬‬଴ ‫ݔ‬ሺ‫ݐ‬ሻ் ܳ‫ݔ‬ሺ‫ݐ‬ሻ ൅ ‫ݑ‬ሺ‫ݐ‬ሻ் ܴ‫ݑ‬ሺ‫ݐ‬ሻ ݀‫ݐ‬ (11)

and the control input as The optimal state feedback LQR controller is of the form
ஶ
න ԡ‫ݑ‬ሺ‫ݐ‬ሻԡଶ ݀‫ݐ‬ ‫ ݑ‬ൌ െ‫ݔܭ‬ (12)
଴
The feedback gain K is the ݉ ൈ ݊ matrix given by [4]
LQR tries to minimize the criterion given by
ஶ ‫ ܭ‬ൌ ܴ ିଵ ‫ܲ ்ܤ‬ (13)
‫ ܬ‬ൌ ‫׬‬଴ ܳԡ‫ݖ‬ሺ‫ݐ‬ሻԡଶ ൅ ܴԡ‫ݑ‬ሺ‫ݐ‬ሻԡଶ  ݀‫ݐ‬ (9)
where ܲ is the solution to the Algebraic Riccati Equation:
where Q and R are weighing parameters in the form of
symmetric positive-definite matrices. By minimizing this ‫ ܲ ்ܣ‬൅ ‫ ܲܣ‬൅ ܳ െ ܲ‫ିܴܤ‬ଵ ‫ ܲ ்ܤ‬ൌ Ͳ (14)
criterion, LQR seeks to find a controller that would
minimize both the energies. However, a small control signal The state feedback law results in a closed loop system of the
will lead to a large control output and a small controlled form
output will demand large control signal. Q and R form the
tradeoff between these conflicting goals [2]. ‫ݔ‬ሶ ൌ ሺ‫ ܣ‬െ ‫ܭܤ‬ሻ‫ݔ‬ (15)
A system, to be controlled, should be modeled in order to
A crucial property of LQR controller design is that the
explicitly specify the measurable thus controllable
resulting closed loop system is asymptotically stable. Eq.11
parameters. Consider a system as shown in Figure 2
is referred as cost quadratic function, which represents the
cost of the system and must be reduced to minimum.
‫ݑ‬ሺ‫ݐ‬ሻʲԹ௠ ‫ݔ‬ሶ ൌ ݂ሺ‫ݔ‬ǡ ‫ݑ‬ሻ ‫ݕ‬ሺ‫ݐ‬ሻʲԹ௞
‫ ݕ‬ൌ ݃ሺ‫ݔ‬ǡ ‫ݑ‬ሻ
4. SATELLITE MODELING
Figure 2. System having m inputs and k outputs Satellite Dynamics
)URP WKH (XOHU¶V VDWHOOLWH HTXDWLRQ RI PRWLRQ WKH WRWDO
Where xʲԹ௡ is the state of the system and y is the angular momentum of the satellite is given by
measured output. Assuming function ݂and ݃ to be linear
and thus the system as Linear Time Invariant, the system ݄ሶ௧௢௧௔௟ ൌ  ܰ௘௫௧ െ ߱ ൈ  ݄௧௢௧௔௟ (16)
could be written in a general state space form as,

‫ݔ‬ሶ ൌ ‫ ݔܣ‬൅ ‫ݑܤ‬ (10) where ݄௧௢௧௔௟ is the total angular momentum considering all
‫ ݕ‬ൌ ‫ ݔܥ‬൅ ‫ݑܦ‬ the parts within the satellite, ܰ௘௫௧ is the external torque and
߱is the angular velocity of the satellite. So, Eq.16 can be
where ୬ൈ୬ is the system matrix that relates the current state rewritten considering the reaction wheel dynamics as
of the system to the change in the same, ୬ൈ୫ is the control
matrix that describes the effect of control input on the state ೏
‫ ߱ ܫ‬൅  ݄ሶ௪ ൌ  ܰ௘௫௧  െ ߱ ൈ  ‫ܫ‬௦ ߱ െ ߱ ൈ  ݄௪
೏೟ ௦
(17)
change, ୩ൈ୬ is the output matrix relating the states of a
system to its output and ୩ൈ୫ is called the feed forward where ‫ܫ‬௦ is satellite inertia matrix and ݄௪ is the total angular
matrix that allows the control input to effect the output momentum of the wheels. Eq.17 can be rewritten as
directly. More often than not, a LQR tries to control the
state x of the system resulting in a State Feedback LQR ߱ሶ ൌ  െ‫ܫ‬௦ ିଵ ሺ߱ ൈ  ‫ܫ‬௦ ߱ሻ െ ‫ܫ‬௦ ିଵ ሺ߱ ൈ  ݄௪ ሻ െ ‫ܫ‬௦ ିଵ ݄ሶ௪ ൅ ‫ܫ‬௦ ିଵ ܰ௘௫௧ (18)
represented in Figure 3.
The control torque,ܰ௖ in the body coordinate system is the change
ŽŶƚƌŽůůĞƌ ‫ݔ‬ሶ ൌ ‫ ݔܣ‬൅ ‫ݑܤ‬ in the rate of angular momentum of the reaction wheels i.e. ݄ሶ௪ . So,

‫ ݕ‬ൌ ‫ ݔܥ‬൅ ‫ݑܦ‬ Eq.18 can be rewritten as
െ
džሺ‫ݐ‬ሻʲԹ݊  ߱ሶ ൌ  െ‫ܫ‬௦ ିଵ ሺ߱ ൈ  ‫ܫ‬௦ ߱ሻ െ ‫ܫ‬௦ ିଵ ሺ߱ ൈ  ݄௪ ሻ െ ‫ܫ‬௦ ିଵ ܰܿ ൅ ‫ܫ‬௦ ିଵ ܰ௘௫௧ (20)

Figure 3. State Feedback LQR

3
Satellite Kinematics The quaternion attitude error and the angular velocity of the
satellite comprise the state of the system. The controlled
The satellite kinematics is represented by using the attitude
input is the torque exerted by the reaction wheel. So,
quaternion,‫ ݍ‬ൌ ሾ‫ݍ‬௫ ǡ ‫ݍ‬௬ ǡ ‫ݍ‬௭ ǡ ‫ݍ‬ఏ ሿ. A quaternion consists of
‫ݔ‬ሺ‫ݐ‬ሻ ൌ ሾ‫ݍ‬௘௫ ǡ ‫ݍ‬௘௬ ǡ ‫ݍ‬௘௭ ǡ ߱‫ ݔ‬ǡ ߱‫ ݕ‬ǡ ߱‫ ݖ‬ሿ and ‫ݑ‬ሺ‫ݐ‬ሻ ൌ ሾܶ௖௫ ǡ ܶ௖௬ ǡ ܶ௖௭ ሿ.
vector, ‫ݍ‬ሬሬሬሬԦ௩ ൌ ሾ‫ݍ‬௫ ǡ ‫ݍ‬௬ ǡ ‫ݍ‬௭ ሿ, that represents the axis about
which the satellite rotation has to be done and the scalar, Eq.20 and Eq.24 is linearized at ‫ݍ‬଴ ൌ ሺͲǡͲǡͲǡͳሻ and
‫ݍ‬ఏ gives the rotation angle,ߠalong that axis as follows, ߱଴ ൌ ሺͲǡͲǡͲሻ for computational ease. So, the state space
matrices can be given by [3],
‫ݍ‬௫
‫ݍ‬௬ ԡ௘ԦԡǤ௦௜௡ሺఏȀଶሻ ݀‫ݍ‬௘ሶ ݀‫ݍ‬௘ሶ
‫ ݍ‬ൌ ൦ ‫ ݍ‬൪ ൌ  ቂ ቃ ݀‫ݍ‬௘ሶ
௭ ௖௢௦ሺఏȀଶሻ
(21) ‫ۍ‬ ‫ې‬ ‫ۍ‬ ‫ې‬
݀‫ݍ‬ ݀ ܶܿ ‫ۑ‬
‫ݍ‬ఏ ‫ ܣ‬ൌ ‫ ێێ‬௘ ݀߱ ‫ۑ‬ ‫ܤ‬ൌ ‫ێ‬
݀ ߱ሶ ݀ ߱ሶ ‫ۑ‬ ‫߱݀ ێ‬ሶ ‫ۑ‬
‫ێ‬ ‫ۑ‬
where ԡ݁Ԧԡ represents the normalized rotation axis. The ‫ݍ݀ۏ‬௘ ݀߱ ‫ے‬ሺ௤ ‫ے ܿܶ ݀ ۏ‬ሺ௤
బ ǡ߱బ ሻ బ ǡ߱బ ሻ
kinematics of the satellite is the rate of change of satellite
attitude, ‫ݍ‬ሶ given by, ͳ ‫ڮ‬ Ͳ
‫ ܥ‬ൌ ൥‫ڭ‬ ‫ڰ‬ ‫ڭ‬൩ ‫ ܦ‬ൌ ሾͲሿሺ଺ൈଷሻ
‫ݍ‬௫ Ͳ ߱௭ െ߱௬ ߱‫ݔ‬ ‫ݍ‬௫ Ͳ ‫ڮ‬ ͳ ሺ଺ൈ଺ሻ
ௗ ‫ݍ‬௬ ଵ െ߱௭ Ͳ ߱‫߱ ݔ‬௬ ‫ݍ‬௬
 ൦ ‫ ݍ‬൪ ൌ ൦߱ ൪൦ ൪ (22)
ௗ௧ ௭ ଶ ௬ െ߱‫ݔ‬ Ͳ ߱௭ ‫ݍ‬௭ So, ‫ ܣ‬and ‫ ܤ‬can be written as,
‫ݍ‬ఏ െ߱‫ݔ‬ െ߱௬ െ߱௭ Ͳ ‫ݍ‬ఏ
ሾͲሿሺଷൈଷሻ ͲǤͷሾ‫ܫ‬ሿሺଷൈଷሻ ሾͲሿሺଷൈଷሻ
‫ ܣ‬ൌቈ ቉ ‫ ܤ‬ൌ ൤ ൨
ሾͲሿሺଷൈଷሻ • െͳ ሺŠ™ ሻ • െͳ
A satellite rotation is performed in order to correct a specific
attitude quaternion error, ‫ݍ‬௘ Ǥ The quaternion rotation to where ሺŠ୵ ሻ represents the cross product. ୱ is the satellite
align the satellite body coordinate system to the target inertia matrix. For STUDSAT-2, ୱ = [0.26, -0.002, 9.6e-4; -
coordinate system or vice-versa is given by [3], 0.002, 0.344, 0.004; 9.6e-4, 0.004, 0.284]

ܳ௧௔௥௚௘௧՜௕௢ௗ௬ ൌ ܳ௧௔௥௚௘௧՜௜௡௘௥௧௜௔௟ ٔ  ܳ௜௡௘௥௧௜௔՜௕௢ௗ௬ 

So, considering that quaternion ‫ݍ‬௜௦ represents rotation from 5. ATTITUDE CONTROL
inertial to satellite body coordinate system and ‫ݍ‬௜௥ from A PD control law is used to correct the satellite attitude
inertial to target coordinate system. We may write given by,

‫ݍ‬௘ ൌ ‫ݍ‬௥ ିଵ ٔ ‫ݍ‬௦ ܶ௖ ൌ  െ‫ܭ‬௉ “ୣ െ ‫ܭ‬஽ ɘ (25)

given by,
Where ‫ܭ‬௉ and ‫ܭ‬஽ are proportional and derivative gains
‫ݍ‬௘௫ ‫ݍ‬௜௥ఏ ‫ݍ‬௜௥௭ െ‫ݍ‬௜௥௬ െ‫ݍ‬௜௥௫ ‫ݍ‬௜௦௫ respectively. As mentioned before the control torque, ܶ௖ is
‫ݍ‬௘௬ െ‫ݍ‬௜௥௬ ‫ݍ‬௜௥ఏ ‫ݍ‬௜௥௫ ‫ݍ‬௜௥௬ ‫ݍ‬௜௦௬ the controlled input ‫ݑ‬ሺ‫ݐ‬ሻ to the state space system obtained.
൦‫ ݍ‬൪ ൌ ൦ െ‫ݍ‬௜௥௫
൪ ൦ ‫ ݍ‬൪ (23)
௘௭ ‫ݍ‬௜௥௬ ‫ݍ‬௜௥ఏ െ‫ݍ‬௜௥௭ ௜௦௭ So we may write from Eq.12.
‫ݍ‬௘ఏ ‫ݍ‬௜௥௫ ‫ݍ‬௜௥௬ ‫ݍ‬௜௥௭ ‫ݍ‬௜௥ఏ ‫ݍ‬௜௦ఏ
ܶ௖ ൌ െ‫ݔܭ‬ሺ‫ݐ‬ሻ (26)
Now, similar to Eq.22 the rate of change of quaternion
For all axes, the control toque may written as
erroris given by

‫ݍ‬௘௫ െ߱௬ ߱‫ݔ‬ ‫ݍ‬௘௫ ܶ௖௫ ൌ  െ‫ܭ‬௉௫ ‫ݍ‬௘௫ െ ‫ܭ‬஽௫ ɘ୶ (27)

Ͳ ߱௭
ௗ ‫ݍ‬௘௬ ଵ െ߱௭ Ͳ ߱‫߱ ݔ‬௬ ‫ݍ‬௘௬
 ൦ ‫ ݍ‬൪ ൌ ൦߱ ൪൦ ൪ (24) ܶ௖௬ ൌ  െ‫ܭ‬௉௬ ‫ݍ‬௘௬ െ ‫ܭ‬஽௬ ɘ୷ (28)
ௗ௧ ௘௭ ଶ ௬ െ߱‫ݔ‬ Ͳ ߱௭ ‫ݍ‬௘௭
‫ݍ‬௘ఏ െ߱‫ݔ‬ െ߱௬ െ߱௭ Ͳ ‫ݍ‬௘ఏ ܶ௖௭ ൌ  െ‫ܭ‬௉௭ ‫ݍ‬௘௭ െ ‫ܭ‬஽௭ ɘ୸ (29)
where ߱ ൌ ሾ߱‫ ݔ‬ǡ ߱‫ ݕ‬ǡ ߱‫ ݖ‬ሿ is satellite angular velocity. The proportional and derivative gains for respective axes are
determined by the LQR method, given by Eq.13.
Satellite State Space Model
MATLAB provides an inbuilt LQR function to determine
The satellite is modeled using the dynamics and kinematics.
the gains and reduces the cost function given by Eq.(11). It
Eq.20 and Eq.24 are used to form the state space equation.
is required by the user to provide the Q and R weighing
In order to determine the state space model, given by Eq.10,
parameters in order to get the desired system performance.
for the satellite control inputs and the states must be
The LQR function in MATLAB is given by
identified.

4
 ሾ‫ܭ‬ǡ ܲǡ ‫ܧ‬ሿ ൌ ݈‫ݎݍ‬ሺ‫ܣ‬ǡ ‫ܤ‬ǡ ܳǡ ܴሻ (30) Failure Cases

As mentioned before P is the solution to the Riccati The torque allocation matrices are calculated for the
equation and E is the eigen value to the closed loop system aforementioned wheel failure scenarios. The failure cases
represented by ‫ݔ‬ሶ ൌ ሺ‫ ܣ‬െ ‫ܭܤ‬ሻ[4]. were tested and the responses in each of them were found
different. For explanation, only one of each will be
PD Controller Gain explained in the paper. However, the torque allocation for
all of the cases can be referred from appendix A. In all the
The controlled input for the state space obtained can be cases, system response will be analyzed for change in
written using the inference made in Eq.26. The controller attitude error and angular velocity. The initial attitude error
gain obtained from the LQR is a (3ൈ ͸ሻ matrix which may is assumed to be ‫ ݁ݍ‬ൌ ሺͳǡͳǤʹǡͳǤ͵ሻ and the initial angular
be represented in general form as, velocity is taken as zero in all directions. The ܳand ܴ
weighing matrices were approximately maintained at
‫ܭ‬ଵଵ ‫ܭ‬ଵଶ ‫ܭ‬ଵଷ ‫ܭ‬ଵସ ‫ܭ‬ଵହ ‫ܭ‬ଵ଺
ܳ ൌ ͲǤͳ ‫݁ݕ݁ כ‬ሺ͸ሻ and ܴ ൌ ʹͲ ‫݁ݕ݁ כ‬ሺ͵ሻ across all the
‫ ܭ‬ൌ ൥‫ܭ‬ଶଵ ‫ܭ‬ଶଶ ‫ܭ‬ଶଷ ‫ܭ‬ଶସ ‫ܭ‬ଶହ ‫ܭ‬ଶ଺ ൩ simulations. Figure.4, Figure.5, Figure.6, Figure.7, Figure. 8
‫ܭ‬ଷଵ ‫ܭ‬ଷଶ ‫ܭ‬ଷଷ ‫ܭ‬ଷସ ‫ܭ‬ଷହ ‫ܭ‬ଷ଺ and Figure. 9 shows the simulation results obtained for the
cases of failures and normal operation.
Substituting in Eq.(26)

‫ܭ‬ଵଵ ‫ܭ‬ଵଶ ‫ܭ‬ଵଷ ‫ܭ‬ଵସ ‫ܭ‬ଵହ ‫ܭ‬ଵ଺ It can be seen that for normal operation and one wheel
‫ܭ‬ ‫ܭ‬ଶଶ ‫ܭ‬ଶଷ ‫ܭ‬ଶସ ‫ܭ‬ଶହ ‫ܭ‬ଶ଺ ൩ ‫ݔ‬ሺ‫ݐ‬ሻ failure scenario the responses are almost the same. This
ܶ௖ ൌ െ ൥ ଶଵ
validates the argument made in Section 1 for the selection of
‫ܭ‬ଷଵ ‫ܭ‬ଷଶ ‫ܭ‬ଷଷ ‫ܭ‬ଷସ ‫ܭ‬ଷହ ‫ܭ‬ଷ଺
tetrahedral reaction wheel. However, for the case of two
This can be written, ZKHHO IDLOXUH WKH DWWLWXGH GRHVQ¶W VHHP WR FRQYHUJH ,Q WKH
case of angular velocity it was observed that even though
‫ݍ‬௘௫ the initial angular velocity was assumed zero the actuation
‫ݍۍ‬௘௬ ‫ې‬ leads to an overshoot and with time goes back to zero.
ܶ௖௫ ‫ܭ‬ଵଵ ‫ܭ‬ଵଶ ‫ܭ‬ଵଷ ‫ܭ‬ଵସ ‫ܭ‬ଵହ ‫ܭ‬ଵ଺ ‫ۑ ێ‬
‫ݍ‬ Similar to attitude error, the angular velocities in the normal
቎ܶ௖௬ ቏ ൌ െ ൥‫ܭ‬ଶଵ ‫ܭ‬ଶଶ ‫ܭ‬ଶଷ ‫ܭ‬ଶସ ‫ܭ‬ଶହ ‫ܭ‬ଶ଺ ൩ ‫߱ ێ‬௘௭ ‫ۑ‬
operation and one wheel failure case is almost same. In the
‫ܭ‬ଷ଺ ‫ۑ ߱ ێ‬
‫ݔ‬
ܶ௖௭ ‫ܭ‬ଷଵ ‫ܭ‬ଷଶ ‫ܭ‬ଷଷ ‫ܭ‬ଷସ ‫ܭ‬ଷହ
‫ۑݕ ێ‬ two wheel failure case, unlike attitude error, the angular
‫ے ݖ߱ ۏ‬ velocity converges but only requires much longer duration.

ܶ௖௫ ‫ܭ‬ଵଵ ‫ݍ‬௘௫ ൅ ‫ܭ‬ଵଶ ‫ݍ‬௘௬ ൅ ‫ܭ‬ଵଷ ‫ݍ‬௘௭ ൅ ‫ܭ‬ଵସ ߱‫ ݔ‬൅ ‫ܭ‬ଵହ ߱‫ ݕ‬൅ ‫ܭ‬ଵ଺ ߱‫ݖ‬ The study for the failure analysis is still in process and the
቎ܶ௖௬ ቏ ൌ െ ቎‫ܭ‬ଶଵ ‫ݍ‬௘௫ ൅ ‫ܭ‬ଶଶ ‫ݍ‬௘௬ ൅ ‫ܭ‬ଶଷ ‫ݍ‬௘௭ ൅ ‫ܭ‬ଶସ ߱‫ ݔ‬൅ ‫ܭ‬ଶହ ߱‫ ݕ‬൅ ‫ܭ‬ଶ଺ ߱‫ ݖ‬቏ authors propose to perform high fidelity testing for the all
ܶ௖௭ ‫ܭ‬ଷଵ ‫ݍ‬௘௫ ൅ ‫ܭ‬ଷଶ ‫ݍ‬௘௬ ൅ ‫ܭ‬ଷଷ ‫ݍ‬௘௭ ൅ ‫ܭ‬ଷସ ߱‫ ݔ‬൅ ‫ܭ‬ଷହ ߱‫ ݕ‬൅ ‫ܭ‬ଷ଺ ߱‫ݖ‬ the failure cases in near future.

‫ܭ‬ଵଵ ‫ܭ‬ଵସ
‫ݍ‬
ሾܶ௖௫ ሿ ൌ  െ ൥‫ܭ‬ଶଵ ‫ܭ‬ଶସ ൩ ቂ ߱௘௫ ቃ (31)
௫
‫ܭ‬ଷଵ ‫ܭ‬ଷସ 6. BLDC MODELING
‫ܭ‬ଵଶ ‫ܭ‬ଵହ ‫ݍ‬ A Maxon 3W BLDC motor is used for the reaction wheel.
௘௬ The selection is done on the basis of power availability, cost
ൣܶ௖௬ ൧ ൌ െ ൥‫ܭ‬ଶଶ ‫ܭ‬ଶହ ൩ ቂ ߱ ቃ (32)
௬ and the feature to work nominally at 3000 rpm which is
‫ܭ‬ଷଶ ‫ܭ‬ଷହ
selected as the maximum Reaction wheel speed. This
‫ܭ‬ଵଷ ‫ܭ‬ଵ଺ section is dedicated to explain the electrical modeling of the
‫ݍ‬
ሾܶ௖௭ ሿ ൌ െ ൥‫ܭ‬ଶଷ ‫ܭ‬ଶ଺ ൩ ቂ ߱௘௭ ቃ (33) BLDC motor in order to obtain Simulink model of the same.
௭
‫ܭ‬ଷଷ ‫ܭ‬ଷ଺ The Simulink model is used to perform the PID tuning of
the motor so as to attain a optimum performance. The tuning
Comparing Eq.(31), Eq.(32) and Eq.(33) and Eq.(27), will be explained in section 7.
Eq.(28) and Eq.(29) we can conclude,
However, [1] presents a simplified modeling approach. In
‫ܭ‬ଵଵ ‫ܭ‬ଵଶ ‫ܭ‬ଵଷ this paper the detailed modeling is done and an optimum
‫ܭ‬௉௫ ൌ ൥‫ܭ‬ଶଵ ൩ ǡ ‫ܭ‬௉௬ ൌ ൥‫ܭ‬ଶଶ ൩ ǡ ‫ܭ‬௉௭ ൌ ൥‫ܭ‬ଶଷ ൩ performance is achieved [5].
‫ܭ‬ଷଵ ‫ܭ‬ଷଶ ‫ܭ‬ଷଷ
Electrical Model
‫ܭ‬ଵସ ‫ܭ‬ଵହ ‫ܭ‬ଵ଺
The BLDC motor is a 3-Phase voltage system that is
‫ܭ‬஽௫ ൌ ൥‫ܭ‬ଶସ ൩ǡ ‫ܭ‬஽௬ ൌ  ൥‫ܭ‬ଶହ ൩ ǡ ‫ܭ‬஽௭ ൌ ൥‫ܭ‬ଶ଺ ൩
electronically commuted thus increasing the motors life.
‫ܭ‬ଷସ ‫ܭ‬ଷହ ‫ܭ‬ଷ଺
The electrical model is a combination of three R-L Circuits
connected at the same node from one end. Applying
.LUFKKRII¶V voltage law the voltage drop in each arm can be
calculated as follows,

5
 Figure. 4. Attitude error in Normal Operation

Figure. 5. Attitude error in One Wheel Failure Case

Figure. 6. Attitude error in two Wheel Failure Case

6
Figure. 7. Angular Velocity in Normal Operation

Figure. 8. Angular Velocity in One Wheel Failure

Figure. 9. Angular Velocity in Two Wheel Failure

7
 ௗ௜ೌ Mechanical Model
ܸܽ ൌ  ܴ௔ ݅௔ ൅  ‫ܮ‬௔ ൅ ݁௔ (34)
ௗ௧
 The mechanical component inside the motor can be
ௗ௜್  modeled as,
ܸܾ ൌ  ܴ௕ ݅௕ ൅  ‫ܮ‬௕ ൅ ݁௕ (35)
ௗ௧
ௗఠ೘
ௗ௜೎  ܶ௧௢௧௔௟ െ ܶ௟௢௔ௗ ൌ ‫ܬ‬ ൅ ‫ܤ‬Ǥ ߱௠ (45)
ܸܿ ൌ  ܴ௖ ݅௖ ൅  ‫ܮ‬௖ ൅ ݁௖ (36) ௗ௧
ௗ௧
Where ‫ܬ‬is the inertial of the rotor shaft and ‫ ܤ‬is the friction
where ܸ௔ , ܸ௕ and ܸ௖ are the phase voltages, ܴ௔ ǡ ܴ௕ and ܴ௖ coefficient.
are the terminal resistance, ݅௔ ǡ ݅௕ and ݅௖ are the phase
currents, ‫ܮ‬௔ ǡ ‫ܮ‬௕ and ‫ܮ‬௖ are the terminal inductance and ݁௔ ǡ Forming Transfer Functions
݁௕ and ݁௖ are the back EMF.
Taking the Laplace Transform of Eq.34,
In BLDC motor the back EMF is a function of rotors
position. As the rotors in the three phases are 120 o apart, the ܸܽሺ‫ݏ‬ሻ ൌ  ܴ௔ ݅௔ ሺ‫ݏ‬ሻ ൅  ‫ܮ‬௔ ܵǤ ሺ‫ݏ‬ሻ ൅ ݁௔ ሺ‫ݏ‬ሻ
ଶగ
back EMFs generated will have a phase difference of . So
ଷ or,
the back EMFs may be represented as follows,
௏ܽሺ௦ሻି௘ೌ ሺ௦ሻ
݅௔ ሺ‫ݏ‬ሻ ൌ (46)
ோೌ ା௅ೌ ௌǤ
݁௔ ൌ ‫ܭ‬ன ݂ሺߠ௘ ሻ߱௠ (37)
Similarly Eq.35 and Eq.36 can be written as
ଶగ
݁௕ ൌ ‫ܭ‬ன ݂ ቀߠ௘ െ ቁ ߱௠ (38)
ଷ
௏ܾሺ௦ሻି௘್ ሺ௦ሻ ௏ܿሺ௦ሻି௘೎ ሺ௦ሻ
ଶగ
݅௕ ሺ‫ݏ‬ሻ ൌ ǡ݅௖ ሺ‫ݏ‬ሻ ൌ (47)
ோ್ ା௅್ ௌǤ ோ೎ ା௅೎ ௌǤ
݁௖ ൌ ‫ܭ‬ன ݂ ቀߠ௘ ൅ ቁ ߱௠ (39)
ଷ

where ‫ܭ‬ன is back EMF constant, ߠ௘ is the electrical rotation Taking Laplace Transform of Eq.45
angle and ߱௠ is the rotor speed.
ܶ௧௢௧௔௟ ሺ‫ݏ‬ሻ െ ܶ௟௢௔ௗ ሺ‫ݏ‬ሻ ൌ ‫߱ܵܬ‬௠ ሺ‫ݏ‬ሻ ൅ ‫ܤ‬Ǥ ߱௠ ሺ‫ݏ‬ሻ
The total power delivered by the motor is given by,

ܲ ൌ ܶ௧௢௧௔௟ ߱௠ (40) or,

்೟೚೟ೌ೗ ሺ௦ሻି்೗೚ೌ೏ ሺ௦ሻ
߱௠ ሺ‫ݏ‬ሻ ൌ  (48)
where ܶ௧௢௧௔௟ is the total output torque. So, Eq.40 can be ௃ௌఠ೘ ሺ௦ሻା஻
written as
Using the Transfer functions from Eq.(46), Eq.(47) and
௉ Eq.(48) the simulink model can be made as shown in
ܶ௧௢௧௔௟ ൌ (41)
ఠ೘ Figure. 10. The Back EMF block in the model is made
separately using Eq.(37), Eq.(38) and Eq.(39), shown in
Total power delivered is given by Figure 11. The whole model is converted into a subsystem
to implement PID. The parameters are populated using the
ܲ ൌ ݁௔ ݅௔ ൅ ݁௕ ݅௕ ൅ ݁௖ ݅௖ (42) Maxon Motor Datasheet [6].
Substituting Eq.(42) in Eq.(41)

௘ೌ ௜ೌ ା௘್ ௜್ ା௘೎ ௜೎ 7. BLDC TUNING

ܶ௧௢௧௔௟ ൌ (43)
ఠ೘
A PID controller is designed to obtain the optimum
performance. The Schematic arrangement of the same is
But the total available torque will be, shown in Figure 12.

ܶ௧௢௧௔௟ െ ܶ௟௢௔ௗ

So, Eq.43 can be written as,

௘ೌ ௜ೌ ା௘್ ௜್ ା௘೎ ௜೎
ܶ௧௢௧௔௟ െ ܶ௟௢௔ௗ ൌ  (44)
ఠ೘

where ܶ௟௢௔ௗ is the Load Torque.

Figure 12.PID Schematic
Similar relations can be found using the mechanical model.

8
 Filhcclc
Figure 10. BLDC Simulink Block

Figure 11. Back EMF Simulink Block

Figure 13. Tuned Response Figure 14. Motor Performance

9
Figure.13 and Figure. 14 shows the tuned response and the APPENDIX
optimum motor performance as obtained in the scope
respectively. The output is in rad/sec, it is converted to rpm A. TORQUE ALLOCATION MATRICES
to have better understanding. As mentioned in Section 6 the
Matrix (߬) Cases of Failure
nominal operation is 3000 rpm, same is obtained with
optimum performance.
Ͳ Ͳ Ͳ
െͳǤͲ͸Ͳ͹ ͲǤ͸ͳʹͶ Ͳ
൦   ൪ R1
8. IMPLEMENTATION െͳǤͲ͸Ͳ͹ െͲǤ͸ͳʹͶ Ͳ
െͲǤ͹Ͳ͹ Ͳ ͳ
STM32F407 based on ARM Cortex M4 architecture is used
to control the reaction wheel. Maxon motors have hall
sensor. The hall sensors measure the motor speed and are
available at the Motor Driver for access in the form of ͳǤͲ͸Ͳ͹ െͲǤ͸ͳʹͶ Ͳ
analog voltages. The analog signal is fed to the (Analog Ͳ Ͳ Ͳ
൦   ൪ R2
Digital Converter) ADC Channels of STM32F4, the ADC Ͳ െͳǤʹʹ͹ Ͳ
are configured to be 8 bit as it matches the required ͲǤ͵ͷ͵ͷ െͲǤ͸ͳʹͶ ͳ
resolution. This ADC value is directly fetched from the
ADC data registers to the memory with the help of the
(Direct Memory Access) DMA. DMA bypasses the
controller and hence the algorithm can be executed fast and ͳǤͲ͸Ͳ͹ ͲǤ͸ͳʹͶ Ͳ
Ͳ ͳǤʹʹͶ͹ Ͳ R3
efficiently. The flow chart shown in Figure 15 explains the ൦   ൪
process. Ͳ Ͳ Ͳ
ͲǤ͵ͷ͵ͷ ͲǤ͸ͳʹͶ ͳ

ͲǤ͹Ͳ͹ͳ Ͳ െͳ
െͲǤ͵ͷ͵͸ ͲǤ͸ͳʹͶ െͳ
൦   ൪ R4
െͲǤ͵ͷ͵͸ െͲǤ͸ͳʹͶ ͳ
Ͳ Ͳ ͳ

Ͳ Ͳ Ͳ
Ͳ Ͳ Ͳ
൦   ൪ (R1 & R2)
െͲǤͷ͵Ͳ͵ െͲǤͻͳͺ͸ Ͳ
െͲǤͳ͹͸ͺ െͲǤ͵Ͳ͸ʹ ͳ

Ͳ Ͳ Ͳ
െͲǤͷ͵Ͳ͵ ͲǤͻͳͺ͸ Ͳ
൦   ൪ (R1 & R3)
Figure 15. Operation Flow Ͳ Ͳ Ͳ
െͲǤͳ͹͸ͺ ͲǤ͵Ͳ͸ʹ ͳ

9. SUMMARY
The paper described the control approach adopted for the Ͳ Ͳ Ͳ
െͲǤ͹Ͳ͹ͳ ͲǤ͸ͳʹͶ െͲǤͷͲͲ
Reaction Wheel Control of STUDSAT-2. An account of ൦   ൪ (R1 & R4)
different failure cases is presented and the toque allocation Ͳ Ͳ Ͳ
matrix for each case has been tabulated. An explanation of െͲǤ͹Ͳ͹ͳ െͲǤ͸ͳʹͶ െͲǤͷͲͲ
LQR is done specially for state feedback cases and the
process used to find the gains of the PD is presented. One of
HDFK IDLOXUH FDVH LV VLPXODWHG DQG LW¶V HVWDEOLVKHG WKDW WKH
ͳǤͲ͸Ͳ͹ Ͳ Ͳ
tetrahedral reaction wheel can very well sustain the failure
Ͳ ͲͲ R2 & R3
of one wheel. Furthermore, the BLDC motor used for the ൦   ൪
reaction wheel is modeled and tuned for optimum Ͳ ͲͲ
performance. The paper also touches upon the methodology ͲǤ͵ͷ͵ͷ Ͳ ͳ
of implementation of the control approach planned on the
satellite on-board Controller.
10
 Tejaswini G S is a final year
student at Nitte Meenakshi
ͲǤͺͺ͵ͻ െͲǤ͵Ͳ͸ʹ െͲǤͷ Institute of Technology,
Ͳ Ͳ Ͳ pursuing M.Tech in Digital
൦   ൪ R2 & R4
െͲǤͳ͹͸ͺ െͲǤͻͳ͸ͺ െͲǤͷ Communication & Networking.
Ͳ Ͳ Ͳ She is a core member of
STUDSAT-2 Team. Her
interests are Control Systems
and Satellite Technology.
ͲǤͺͺ͵ͻ ͲǤ͵Ͳ͸ʹ െͲǤͷ
െͲǤͳ͹͸ͺ ͲǤͻͳ͸ͺ െͲǤͷ
൦   ൪ R3 & R4 Yuvaraj S is a final year student
Ͳ Ͳ Ͳ
Ͳ Ͳ Ͳ at Nitte Meenakshi Institute of
Technology pursuing B.E. in
Electronics and Communication
Branch. He is a Core Member of
STUDSAT-2 Team. His area of
REFERENCES interest are Embedded Systems,
[1] Kumar Saroj, Divyanshu Sahay, Sandesh R. Hegde, S. Programming and Satellite
Sandya, Anik Kumar Jha, T. C. Mahalingesh. "Design Technology.
and development of 3-axis reaction wheel for STUDSAT-
2." 2015 IEEE Aerospace Conference. IEEE, 2015 Santosh Kumar is a final year
student at Nitte Meenakshi
[2] J. P. Hespanha, "Undergraduate lecture notes on Institute of Technology
LQG/LQR controller design", University of California, pursuing B.E. in Electronics &
2007 Communication Branch. He is a
Core Member of STUDSAT-2
>@ %ODQNH 0RJHQV /DUVHQ 0DUWLQ %LUNHOXQG ³6DWHOOLWH
Team. His areas of interest are
Dynamics and Control in a Quaternion Formulation(2nd
Embedded Systems and
Edition), Technical University of Denmark, 2010
Prgramming.
[4] Ibrahim K‫݋‬ሷ N ³&RPSDULVRQ DQG $QDO\VLV RI D &RQWURO
6\VWHPVRID6DWHOOLWH8VLQJ5HDFWLRQ:KHHO$FWXDWRUV´
Luleܽሶ University of Technology, 2012 Kannan T is a Research Associate at Centre for Small
Satellite Research. He has Obtained his M.Tech from Nitte
[5] G.Prasad, N.Shree Ramya,P.V.N.Prasad, G.Tulasi Ram
Meenakshi Institute of Technology. He is the core leader of
Das, ³Modeling and Simulation Analysis of the Brushless
Command and Data Handling Subsystem. His area of
DC Motor by using 0$7/$%´,-,7((
interest includes Embedded System, Power Systems and
[6] Maxon EC motor, May 2012113 edition, EC 20 flat Communication
20mm, brushless 3 Watt, Maxon Flat Motor.
Rakshit is a final year student at Nitte Meenakshi Institute
of Technology pursuing B.E. in Electronics and
BIOGRAPHY
Communication Branch. He is a Core Member of
Divyanshu Sahay obtained STUDSAT-2 Team. His areas of interest are Embedded
bachelor of engineering in Systems, Programming and Satellite Technology.
Electronics & Communication
from Siddaganga Institute of Dr. S. Sandya obtained bachelor in Electrical engineering
Technology, Tumkur, India in the from Bangalore University, India. She is currently the
year 2014. He is currently working Project Director for STUDSAT-2 and Head of the
as a Research student at Nitte Department, Electronics and Communication, Nitte
Meenakshi Institute of Technology, Meenakshi Institute of Technology, Bangalore. She obtained
Bangalore. His areas of interests her PhD from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. She
are Physics, Robotics and Control has an Industrial experience of over 20 Years. Her area of
System. He has been working for Team STUDSAT-2 since specialization is Pulsed NQR Instrumentation.
2012. Presently, he is the core leader of Attitude
Determination and Control System for Project STUDSAT-2.

11