Miniature Control Moment Gyroscope development

Abstract

Honeybee Robotics Spacecraft Mechanisms Corporation has developed a Control Moment Gyroscope product suitable for small spacecraft. Each individual CMG exhibits a nominal angular momentum of 56 mNm-s with a peak of 86 mNm-s, and corresponding output torques of 112 mNm and 172 mNm respectively. Each unit measures 48 × 48 × 91 mm and weighs 600 grams. The control electronics are capable of driving 4 CMGs and executing a steering law to synthesize individual actuator commands from a torque triple or torque quaternion command. The industry will see an increasing role in the near future for small satellites in the 20-100 kg size range. We frame the CMG array capability by presenting a baseline application - using the Coral Reef Ecosystem Spectro-Photometric Observatory (CRESPO) mission concept (100 kg satellite) combined with requirements for the Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Ocean (HICO) on the International Space Station. We show how a small CMG array is capable of the representative slew maneuvers by exceeding the necessary slew rates of 0.75 deg/s for a “Soak and Shoot” flight plan, with maximum slew rates in excess of 1.5 deg/s. This paper will discuss the demonstrated performance of the system, including environmental test results, and the baseline application.