Design and development of a Hardware-in-the-loop System for Reaction Wheel Control

In the past, the use of computer simulations and real experiments were separated from each other when developing electromechanical components or systems. However, using a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) approach, the two processes can be combined and exhibit a great increase in efficiency. Therefore, the search for hardware-in-the-loop simulation of any system requires the establishment of appropriate mathematical and simulation models for the digital part of the system. With this in mind, this article conducts a detailed HIL simulation on the means implemented and performance obtained in different operating scenarios to test, analyze, and validate a linear PID corrector for the nanosatellite reaction wheel used in the attitude control subsystem.