7,267 research outputs found
Modeling, Stability Analysis, and Testing of a Hybrid Docking Simulator
A hybrid docking simulator is a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulator that
includes a hardware element within a numerical simulation loop. One of the
goals of performing a HIL simulation at the European Proximity Operation
Simulator (EPOS) is the verification and validation of the docking phase in an
on-orbit servicing mission.....Comment: 30 papge
Analytical and experimental stability investigation of a hardware-in-the-loop satellite docking simulator
The European Proximity Operation Simulator (EPOS) of the DLR-German Aerospace
Center is a robotics-based simulator that aims at validating and verifying a
satellite docking phase. The generic concept features a robotics tracking
system working in closed loop with a force/torque feedback signal. Inherent
delays in the tracking system combined with typical high stiffness at contact
challenge the stability of the closed-loop system. The proposed concept of
operations is hybrid: the feedback signal is a superposition of a measured
value and of a virtual value that can be tuned in order to guarantee a desired
behavior. This paper is concerned with an analytical study of the system's
closed-loop stability, and with an experimental validation of the hybrid
concept of operations in one dimension (1D). The robotics simulator is modeled
as a second-order loop-delay system and closed-form expressions for the
critical delay and associated frequency are derived as a function of the
satellites' mass and the contact dynamics stiffness and damping parameters. A
numerical illustration sheds light on the impact of the parameters on the
stability regions. A first-order Pade approximation provides additional means
of stability investigation. Experiments were performed and tests results are
described for varying values of the mass and the damping coefficients. The
empirical determination of instability is based on the coefficient of
restitution and on the observed energy. There is a very good agreement between
the critical damping values predicted by the analysis and observed during the
tests...Comment: 16 page
Kinetic isolation tether experiment
Progress was made on the analysis of tether damping and on experimentation of the control system on the laboratory simulator. The damping analysis considers the dynamics of a long tether connecting two spacecraft in Earth orbit, one of the spacecraft having dominant mass. In particular, it considers the material damping of the tether. The results show that, with properly chosen tether material and braiding structure, longitudinal vibration of the tethered system is well damped. A particularly effective method of implementing attitude control for tethered satellites is to use the tether tension force to generate control torques by moving the tether attach point relative to the satellite center of mass. A scaled, one dimensional laboratory simulation of the KITE mission was built and preliminary experiments of the proposed attitude control system were performed. The simulator was built to verify theoretical predictions of attitude controllability, and to investigate the technological requirements in order to implement this concept. A detailed description of the laboratory apparatus is provided, and in addition, the results of the preliminary experiments are presented and discussed
Validating a timing simulator for the NGMP multicore processor
Timing simulation is a key element in multicore systems design. It enables a fast and cost effective design space exploration, allowing to simulate new architectural improvements without requiring RTL abstraction levels. Timing simulation also allows software developers to perform early testing of the timing behavior of their software without the need of buying the actual physical board, which can be very expensive when the board uses non-COTS technology. In this paper we present the validation of a timing simulator for the NGMP multicore processor, which is a 4 core processor being developed to become the reference platform for future missions of the European Space Agency.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Space Agency under contract NPI 4000102880 and the Ministry of Science and Technology of
Spain under contract TIN-2015-65316-P. Jaume Abella has been partially supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under Ramon y Cajal postdoctoral fellowship
number RYC-2013-14717.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft
NASA Automated Rendezvous and Capture Review. Executive summary
In support of the Cargo Transfer Vehicle (CTV) Definition Studies in FY-92, the Advanced Program Development division of the Office of Space Flight at NASA Headquarters conducted an evaluation and review of the United States capabilities and state-of-the-art in Automated Rendezvous and Capture (AR&C). This review was held in Williamsburg, Virginia on 19-21 Nov. 1991 and included over 120 attendees from U.S. government organizations, industries, and universities. One hundred abstracts were submitted to the organizing committee for consideration. Forty-two were selected for presentation. The review was structured to include five technical sessions. Forty-two papers addressed topics in the five categories below: (1) hardware systems and components; (2) software systems; (3) integrated systems; (4) operations; and (5) supporting infrastructure
Precision tethered satellite attitude control
Tethered spacecraft possess unique dynamic characteristics which make them advantageous for certain classes of experiments. One use for which tethers are particularly well suited is to provide an isolated platform for spaceborne observatories. The advantages of tethering a pointing platform 1 or 2 km from a space shuttle or space station are that, compared to placing the observatory on the parent spacecraft, vibrational disturbances are attenuated and contamination is eliminated. In practice, all satellites have some requirement on the attitude control of the spacecraft, and tethered satellites are no exception. It has previously been shown that conventional means of performing attitude control for tethered satellites are insufficient for any mission with pointing requirements more stringent than about 1 deg. This is due mainly to the relatively large force applied by the tether to the spacecraft. A particularly effective method of implementing attitude control for tethered satellites is to use this tether tension force to generate control torques by moving the tether attach point relative to the subsatellite center of mass. A demonstration of this attitude control technique on an astrophysical pointing platform has been proposed for a space shuttle flight test project and is referred to as the Kinetic Isolation Tether Experiment (KITE)
Verification of a CubeSat via Hardware-in-the-loop Simulation
This paper describes the Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) simulation methodology used for the verification of functional requirements of e-st@r-I CubeSat. The satellite’s behavior has been investigated via HIL simulation, and the results obtained are consistent with the expected values in any operative conditions. It is proven that HIL simulation is a valuable means for supporting the verification process of small satellites and may help reduce time and cost of the development phase and increase mission reliability
- …