Minimum energy wheel configurations for energy storage and attitude control
AssigneeHoneywell International Inc.
InventorDavid A. Bailey
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A satellite energy and attitude control system includes a first energy wheel, a second energy wheel and a third energy wheel. The first energy wheel is mounted in a first double gimbal and the second energy wheel is mounted in a second double gimbal. The third energy wheel is mounted in a third double gimbal and the first, second and third energy wheels, which have at least two degrees of motion orthogonal to their respective spin axes, are located within a single plane and positioned with respect to each other such that the total angular momentum provided by the first, second and third energy wheels sums to zero approximate an operational range center of the gimbals.
Claims20
A satellite energy and attitude control system, comprising:
- a first energy wheel mounted in a first double gimbal;
- a second energy wheel mounted in a second double gimbal;
- and
- a third energy wheel mounted in a third double gimbal, wherein the first, second and third energy wheels are located within a single plane and positioned with respect to each other such that the total angular momentum provided by the first, second and third energy wheels sum to zero approximate an operational range center of the gimbals, and wherein the first, second and third energy wheels have at least two degrees of motion orthogonal to their respective spin axes.
A satellite energy and attitude control system, comprising:
- a first energy wheel mounted in a first double gimbal;
- a second energy wheel mounted in a second double gimbal;
- a third energy wheel mounted in a third double gimbal;
- and
- a fourth energy wheel mounted in a fourth double gimbal, wherein the first, second, third and fourth energy wheels are located within a single plane and positioned with respect to each other such that the total angular momentum provided by the first, second, third and fourth energy wheels sum to zero approximate an operational range center of the gimbals, and wherein the first, second, third and fourth energy wheels have at least two degrees of motion orthogonal to their respective spin axes.
A satellite energy and attitude control system, comprising:
- a first energy wheel mounted in a first double gimbal;
- a second energy wheel mounted in a second double gimbal;
- and
- a third energy wheel mounted in a third double gimbal, wherein the first, second and third energy wheels are located within a single plane and positioned with respect to each other such that the total angular momentum provided by the first, second and third energy wheels sum to zero approximate an operational range center of the gimbals, and wherein the first, second and third energy wheels have at least two degrees of motion orthogonal to their respective spin axes, where the spin axes of the first, second and third energy wheels are not colinear, and where the system performs attitude control without singularities in angular momentum from gimbal angle Jacobian matrix at zero angular momentum.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.