Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation Testbed for Three-Axis Earth's Magnetic Field Generation Based on 2.4- Meter Square Helmholtz Coils

This paper proposes a Hardware-in-the-Loop sim-ulation (HiLs) tested via square Helmholtz coils as a relative magnetic field generator. In technical terms, the HiLs is an indispensable tool for engineering design during rapid proto-typing of attitude determination and control algorithms for the turning parameters that control the attitude of the satellite, since most of the satellite's mission relies on its attitude, making this system one of the most essential to the satellite's operation. More-over, performing controlled experiments with the parameters for developing adaptive control algorithms improves the overall efficiency of the satellite's kinematic system. The conceptual design of a proposed system architecture can be composed of the electrical currents of 2.4-meter square Helmholtz coils produced by a low-level microcontroller equipped with a DC-motor driver by a pulse-width modulation (PWM) signal through real-time connection to an orbit propagator using a high-level computer. This research focuses on the attitude dynamic of satellites through the interaction between the Earth's magnetic field (EMF) and the magnetotorque in the satellite. To apply this phenomenon, the intensity and the direction of the magnetic field must be identified through Biot-Savart's law. Along with the EMF, the reference position is calculated using the standard general perturbations satellite orbit model (SGP4), and the intensity is modeled based on coefficients from the 13
^th
edition of the International Geo-magnetic Reference Field (IGRF). Therefore, this paper presents a detailed development of a HiLs testbed for distributed attitude determination and control systems (hardware and software co-design, protocol, and control theory). Furthermore, it discusses a classic cooperative control case for the output of magnetic field intensity and direction, which was undertaken to explain the integrated simulation process and validate the effectiveness of the co-simulation tested to be a primary experiment.