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An Analysis Of Stabilizing 3u Cubesats Using Gravity Gradient Techniques And A Low Power Reaction Wheel, Erich Bender
An Analysis Of Stabilizing 3u Cubesats Using Gravity Gradient Techniques And A Low Power Reaction Wheel, Erich Bender
Aerospace Engineering
The purpose of this paper is to determine the feasibility of gravity gradient stabilizing a 3U CubeSat and then using a miniature reaction wheel to further increase stability characteristics. This paper also serves as a guide to understanding and utilizing quaternions in attitude control analysis. The analytical results show that using 33 centimeter booms and 400 gram tip masses, a 3U CubeSat will experience a maximum of 6 degrees of angular displacement in yaw and pitch, and less than .5 degrees of angular displacement in the nadir axis. A .120 kilogram miniature reaction wheel developed by Sinclair Interplanetary was introduced …