Gimbal Actuator Modeling for a Spin-Stabilized Spacecraft Equipped with a 1DoF Gimbaled-Thruster and two Reaction Wheels

Abstract

Attitude control of spacecraft during an impulsive orbital maneuver is a vital task. Many spacecraft and launchers use the gimbaled thrust vector control (TVC) in their attitude control system during an orbital maneuver. Mathematical modeling of the gimbal actuator is an important task because we should show the applicability of the gimbaled-TVC in a spacecraft. In this paper, a spin-stabilized spacecraft equipped with one degree of freedom (DoF) gimbaled-thruster and two reaction wheels (RWs) is considered. The control goals are disturbance rejection and thrust vector (spin-axis) stabilization based on one DoF gimbal actuator and two RWs. The gimbal is assumed to be equipped with a gearbox and a DC electric motor. This actuator must supply the gimbal torque to rotate the spacecraft nozzle. The mathematical model of the mentioned spacecraft is extended with respect to the DC motor equations. In order to investigate the applicability of the proposed method, an industrial DC electric motor is considered for the gimbal actuator. The simulation results prove that an industrial DC electric motor is able to be used for attitude control of the mentioned spacecraft. The simulation results indicate the applicability of the proposed control method in an impulsive orbital maneuver.