Laboratory Facility for Microsatellite Mock-up Motion Simulation

A description of a COSMOS laboratory facility for the controlled motion simulation of microsatellites created in Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the results of its application to the simulation of the control algorithms are presented. The laboratory facility consists of an aerodynamic table and microsatellite mock-ups. Due to the air cushion between the table surface and the disks on which the mock-ups are installed, free motion with three degrees of freedom becomes possible: two translational and one rotational. A review of the simulator’s international analogues has revealed its advantages and disadvantages. A motion determination algorithm based on video processing is described and its accuracy is studied. The results of the investigation of perturbations acting on the mock-ups on the aerodynamic table are presented. The performance of the control algorithms is demonstrated.