The current OreSat 1.0 (2U) and upcoming 3U CubeSats, scheduled for launch next year, lack hardware capable of providing accurate and efficient attitude control. This research, which forms the foundation of my master’s thesis, focuses on developing advanced motor control strategies in combination with upgraded reaction wheel hardware to design a high-performance control system.
My preliminary work has centered on three areas. First, I investigated motor controller strategies, field-oriented, sinusoidal, and trapezoidal control to evaluate tradeoffs in efficiency, complexity, and suitability for CubeSat reaction wheels. Second, I created modular Python-based tools to determine mass and RPM requirements, which informed hardware specifications. Finally, I revised the control system circuit board to integrate the MCXN microcontroller, enabling the integration of a real-time operating system (RTOS) and providing a platform for testing.
Initial findings suggest that field-oriented control offers the most promising balance of precision and efficiency, though at the cost of implementation complexity. Reaction wheel sizing models confirmed the current design is functional but leaves room for improvement, which prompted ongoing revisions in collaboration with the PSAS mechanical team. The control system circuit board has also been completed, enabling my future work.
With the hardware development phase finished, the next stage will focus on porting existing firmware to the Zephyr RTOS, followed by implementation and comparison of the three motor control methods on the new hardware. The ultimate goal is to identify the most effective strategy and deliver a finalized reaction wheel controller for future CubeSat missions.