Magnetically Suspended VSCMGs for Simultaneous Attitude Control and Power Transfer IPAC Service

This paper presents the theory and numerical results of utilizing four gimbaled, magnetically suspended, variable speed flywheels for simultaneous satellite attitude control and power transfer (charge, storage, and delivery). Previous variable speed control moment gyro models and control algorithms assumed that the flywheel bearings were rigid. However, high speed flywheels on spacecraft will be supported by active magnetic bearings, which have flexibility and in general frequency dependent characteristics. The present work provides the theory for modeling the satellite and flywheel systems including controllers for stable magnetic bearing suspension for power transfer to and from the flywheels and for attitude control of the satellite. A major reason for utilizing flexible bearings is to isolate the imbalance disturbance forces from the flywheel to the satellite. This g-jitter vibration could interfere with the operation of sensitive onboard instrumentation. A special control approach is employed for the magnetic bearings to reject the imbalance disturbances. The stability, robustness, tracking, and disturbance rejection performances of the feedback control laws are demonstrated with a satellite simulation that includes initial attitude error, system modeling error, and flywheel imbalance disturbance.