Design, Implementation and Comparison of Power Electronic Circuits for Current Control through 3-axis Magnetorquer coils in a Satellite

This paper expounds different topologies for achieving precise control of current through a solenoid coil. Various power electronic circuits with different control strategies have been implemented. These novel topologies are aimed at achieving current control in the magnetorquer coils in a Nanosatellite. COEPSAT-2 is a student satellite mission aimed at demonstrating propulsion using solar sails. The magnetorquers are required to damp the angular velocities. Three topologies have been implemented and compared based on their transient response, ripple percentage, resolution etc. Limited literature is available on control strategies to drive a constant current through magnetorquer coils in satellites and this paper aims at bridging this gap. The topologies presented can be further extended to various low power applications across several industries; the current control in the magnetorquer of a satellite just exemplifies an application of the same. The paper presents the power electronic topology, control strategy and the comparative analysis of two novel closed loop topologies of current control and a popular open loop topology.