A residual based adaptive unscented Kalman filter for fault recovery in attitude determination system of microsatellites

This paper presents an adaptive unscented Kalman filter (AUKF) to recover the satellite attitude in a fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) subsystem of microsatellites. The FDD subsystem includes a filter and an estimator with residual generators, hypothesis tests for fault detections and a reference logic table for fault isolations and fault recovery. The recovery process is based on the monitoring of mean and variance values of each attitude sensor behaviors from residual vectors. In the case of normal work, the residual vectors should be in the form of Gaussian white noise with zero mean and fixed variance. When the hypothesis tests for the residual vectors detect something unusual by comparing the mean and variance values with dynamic thresholds, the AUKF with real-time updated measurement noise covariance matrix will be used to recover the sensor faults. The scheme developed in this paper resolves the problem of the heavy and complex calculations during residual generations and therefore the delay in the isolation process is reduced. The numerical simulations for TSUBAME, a demonstration microsatellite of Tokyo Institute of Technology, are conducted and analyzed to demonstrate the working of the AUKF and FDD subsystem.     

Identification of power analysis models for ETS-III operation

This paper describes the identification of power analysis models of BOP (the Bus Equipment Operation Analysis Program) for ETS-III operation. The ETS-III (Engineering Test Satellite III) was launched in September 1982. BOP simulations are to provide prior confirmation for safe operation in terms of electrical power and thermal control situations. It is necessary to identify power analysis model first and improve the model for higher accuracy. Studies for model identification have been done by using flight data and simulation results. As a result of these studies, the power analysis model meets well with the actual ETS-III power situation and the aimed accuracy of the model has been achieved.     

Influence of curved thin-film device on deformation of a solar sail

A spinning solar sail IKAROS’s membrane is estimated to unexpectedly deform into an inverted pyramid shape due to thin-film devices with curvature, such as thin-film solar cells and steering devices on the membrane. It is important to investigate the deformation caused by the curved thin-film devices and predict the sail shape because the out-of-plane deformation greatly affects solar radiation pressure (SRP) and SRP torque. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the relationship between the global shape and orientation and position of curved thin-film devices and to evaluate SRP torque on the global shape using finite element analysis. The global shape is evaluated based on the out-of-plane displacement and the SRP torque. When the curved thin-film devices make the membrane shrink in the circumferential, diagonal, and radial direction, the sail deforms into a pyramid shape, an inverted pyramid one, and a saddle one, respectively. The saddle shape is more desirable for solar sails than the inverted pyramid shape and the pyramid one from the viewpoint of shape stability to SRP and control of SRP torque in the normal direction of the sail (windmill torque). The position of the thin-film device tends to increase the absolute value of windmill torque when it is biased circumferentially from the petal central axis. The suggested design principles for the arrangement of thin-film devices is that the curved thin-film devices should be directed so that the sail shrinks in the radial direction in order to deform the sail into a saddle shape with high shape stability, and the position of the thin-film devices should be biased in the circumferential direction paying attention to the absolute value of windmill torque to determine the direction of windmill torque.