Ground test facility for ADCS calibration, mass-properties measurement, and algorithm validation: air-bearing platform, triaxial Helmholtz cage, and solar simulator.
ADCS Testbed
Ground test facility for ADCS calibration, mass-properties measurement, and algorithm validation: air-bearing platform, triaxial Helmholtz cage, and solar simulator.
Description
The ADCS Testbed supports satellite missions that require pointing and attitude determination capabilities, by facilitating calibration, measurement of mass properties, and tests and validation of ADCS algorithms. It consists of an air-bearing platform, a triaxial Helmholtz cage, and a solar simulator, and is easily customizable to fit customer-specific requirements.
Included hardware: Triaxial Helmholtz Cage, Air-bearing Platform, Solar Simulator. Software functions (Testbed-TYF customer support software): mass properties measurement; platform attitude estimation and wireless communication; platform center-of-mass calibration assistant; dynamic magnetic field control according to selected orbit.
Mass properties measurement: the low-disturbance-torque environment enables precise measurement of center of mass, moment of inertia (MOI), and product of inertia (POI) — essential for ADCS design and validation.
Specifications
| Air-Bearing Platform — Position of Center of Mass, manually adjustable (X, Y, Z axes) | 25 mm (± 12.5 mm) |
|---|---|
| Air-Bearing Platform — Turbine Torque | 5 μNm (typical) |
| Air-Bearing Platform — Travel Angle | < ± 12 deg for regular platform (Max. load 30 kg); < ± 22 deg for small platform (Max. load 10 kg) |
| Air-Bearing Platform — Center of Mass Estimation Error | 1.5 mm |
| Air-Bearing Platform — Moment of Inertia (MOI) Estimation Error | 10% |
| Air-Bearing Platform — Product of Inertia (POI) Estimation Error | 10% of MOI |
| Air-Bearing Platform — Attitude Estimation Error | < 1 deg (3-sigma) |
| Solar Simulator — Spectral Matching | AM0, Class A, ASTM |
| Solar Simulator — Light Spot Area | Standard 40 x 40 mm2, up to 220 x 220 mm2 available |
| Solar Simulator — Spatial Non-uniformity of Total Irradiance | < 2% |
| Solar Simulator — Collimation | < 4 deg |
| Solar Simulator — Time Instability | < 1% |
| Triaxial Helmholtz Cage — Max. Magnetic Flux Density | 250 uT |
| Triaxial Helmholtz Cage — Working Dimensions | 425(L) x 425(W) x 300(H) mm3 |
| Triaxial Helmholtz Cage — Parallelism | 1 deg |
| Triaxial Helmholtz Cage — Linearity Error (± 100µT) | < 1% |
| Triaxial Helmholtz Cage — Offset Error (± 0.1uT ~ ± 100µT) | 100 nT (typical) |