Hardware-In-the-Loop Simulation of MIST Attitude Determination and Control System

Abstract: The MIST(MIniature Student saTellite) project is a 3U CubeSat developed by student teams at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. One of the fundamental systems of the satellite is the Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS), re sponsible for estimating and correcting the satellite’s orientation using magnetic fields and sun sensors. This final degree work belongs to the MIST functional test team. It focuses on building a test environment that verifies that all ADCS components will be have as expected once the satellite is in orbit. This thesis focuses on creating a test framework that can be used to verify the operation of the ADCS. This test framework is composed of several hardware and software components developed to be reliable and flexible, so it can be adapted to verify the behavior of other systems on the satel lite by other teams in the future. The value of this test framework is demonstrated by setting up a HardwareIntheLoop (HIL) simulation of the ADCS in which real flight hardware is used along with other hardware and software components to create a test scenario as close as possible to the orbit.