This primary objective of this study is to demonstrate simulation and ground-based experiment for the attitude control of flexible spacecraft. A typical spacecraft structure consists of the rigid body and flexible appendages which are large flexible solar panels, parabolic antennas built from light materials in order to reduce their weight. Therefore the attitude control has a big problem because these appendages induce structural vibration under the excitation of external forces. A single-axis rotational simulator with a flexible arm is constructed with on-off air thrusters and reaction wheel as actuation. The simulator is also equipped with payload pointing capability by simultaneous thruster and DC servo motor actuation. The experiment of flexible spacecraft attitude control is performed using only the reaction wheel. Using the reaction wheel the performance of the fuzzy-PID controller is illustrated by simulation and experimental results for a single-axis rotational simulator.

Actuator-induced disturbances are among the most crucial factors in correct spacecraft attitude pointing and stability for fine attitude control problems. In order to develop a CMG as an actuator for fine controls, CMG-induced disturbances should be analyzed. Therefore, this paper aims to develop an analytic model that predicts the effect of disturbances to CMGs by assuming static and dynamic imbalances. The proposed analytical model with respect to the disturbances of a CMG is derived using the Lagrange energy method based on the small-signal assumption.