List of required information for ADCS tuning

[BennerThanYou]

The following information must be determined to implement and tune the ADCS controller to our specific satellite hardware. These parameters define how sensors and actuators are mounted, as well as hardware operational limits and constraints.

Sensor Orientations

• Star tracker orientation (in body frame): Define the quaternion or rotation matrix from the satellite body frame to the star tracker frame.
• IMU orientation (in body frame): Define the quaternion or rotation matrix from the satellite body frame to the IMU frame.

Actuator Orientations & Satellite Inertia Matrix

• Reaction wheel orientations (in body frame): Define the direction of each wheel’s spin axis in the body frame. Clearly specify which side of the wheel corresponds to +z (positive angular momentum).
• Magnetorquer orientations (if used): Define the dipole axis of each magnetorquer in the body frame.
• Accurate inertia matrix of the satellite. Controller is sensitive to inaccurate matrix.

Sensor & Actuator Operational Limits

• Star tracker maximum slew rate: Maximum allowed body angular rate during image capture (to ensure valid attitude solutions).
• Reaction wheel torque limits: Maximum achievable torque and/or acceleration for each wheel.
• Magnetorquer field strength: Maximum dipole moment each magnetorquer can produce.
• Determine if magnetometer has saturation limits, and if these will be exceeded by Earth's magnetic field.

Additional Magnetorquer Behavior (if applicable)

• Residual field decay: Determine how quickly residual magnetic fields decay after the magnetorquer is turned off.
• Earth magnetic field cutoff: Define the minimum expected local Earth magnetic field strength below which magnetorquers should be automatically disabled.