Vibration Attenuation for Satellite Reaction Wheels through the use of Field-Oriented Control

Abstract: Complex space components are getting more important as the request for high precision space missions is increasing. The main contribution to vibrations on a satellite is the reaction wheels, the primary actuator in the attitude control of the satellite. One of the main sources of vibrations is torque ripple which is caused by various reasons, one being the control algorithm. This thesis focuses on reducing the vibrations in the reaction wheels at Hyperion Technologies by using a more complex motor control algorithm known as field-oriented control (FOC) instead of six-step commutation that is urrently used. The reaction wheel driven with FOC was simulated in Python before testing the concept on the real reaction wheel. The open-source electronic speed controller VESC was used to evaluate the performance of the reaction wheel driven with FOC. The results from the simulations showed that it would be a significant improvement to use FOC, both when it comes to torque ripple and control performance. Due to some difficulties with the vibration measurement setup, the torque ripple aspect of the controller could not be confirmed in real life. It has, however, been shown that the reaction wheel would greatly advantage from using FOC instead of six-step commutation when it comes to the control performance.