Fault Tolerant Attitude Estimation for Small Satellites

Small satellites use commercial off-the-shelf sensors and actuators for attitude determination and control (ADC) to reduce the cost. These sensors and actuators are usually not as robust as the available, more expensive, space-proven equipment. As a result, the ADC system of small satellites is more vulnerable to any fault compared to a system for larger competitors. This book aims to present useful solutions for fault tolerance in ADC systems of small satellites. The contents of the book can be divided into two categories: fault tolerant attitude filtering algorithms for small satellites and sensor calibration methods to compensate the sensor errors. MATLAB® will be used to demonstrate simulations.

• Presents fault tolerant attitude estimation algorithms for small satellites with an emphasis on algorithms’ practicability and applicability
• Incorporates fundamental knowledge about the attitude determination methods at large
• Discusses comprehensive information about attitude sensors for small satellites
• Reviews calibration algorithms for small satellite magnetometers with simulated examples
• Supports theory with MATLAB simulation results which can be easily understood by individuals without a comprehensive background in this field
• Covers up-to-date discussions for small satellite attitude systems design

Dr. Chingiz Hajiyev is a professor at the Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Istanbul Technical University (Istanbul, Turkey).

Dr. Halil Ersin Soken is an assistant professor at the Aerospace Engineering Department, Middle East Technical University (Ankara, Turkey).