Hardware in the Loop Simulation for Model Predictive Control Applied to Satellite Attitude Control

Space systems are extremely complex and expensive robotic devices used in scientific, military and communication applications. Attitude control for aerospace systems is responsible for ensuring that the space object is in position, velocity and correct trajectories, stabilizing the spacecraft and guiding in the desired directions during the mission, regardless of external disturbances. Therefore, control systems design must satisfy the satellite's operating requirements and deal with several physical constraints to guarantee safety and performance. In this paper, a parameterized Model Predictive Control (MPC) for attitude control of an artificial satellite is developed. The main feature of the proposed control scheme consists of obtaining an optimal solution at each sampling instant respecting structurally satellite operational constraints ensuring stability, tracking performance and operational reliability, which is a crucial point for aerospace missions. To address real-time operational conditions, Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) technique was developed to test and validate an embedded MPC strategy under realistic implementation conditions.