Control moment gyroscopes including rotors having radially-compliant spokes and methods for the manufacture thereof

A control moment gyroscope (CMG), comprising:

• a stator housing;
• an inner gimbal assembly (IGA), comprising:
• an IGA housing rotatably mounted to the stator housing;
• a CMG rotor rotatably mounted to the IGA housing, the CMG rotor comprising:
• a rotor shaft;
• a rotor rim disposed around the rotor shaft;
• a plurality of radial spokes extending between the rotor shaft and the rotor rim;
• and
• a plurality of tensile strain relief features integrally formed with plurality of radial spokes and imparting each of the plurality of radial spokes with a predetermined radial compliancy;
• a spin motor coupled to the IGA housing and configured to rotate the CMG rotor about a spin axis;
• and
• a torque motor coupled to the stator housing and configured to rotate the IGA housing about a gimbal axis perpendicular to the spin axis.

A method for manufacturing a control moment gyroscope (CMG), the method comprising:

• producing a monolithic CMG rotor, comprising:
• a rotor shaft;
• a rotor rim circumscribing the rotor shaft;
• and
• a plurality of radially-compliant spokes extending between the rotor shaft and the rotor rim;
• installing the monolithic CMG rotor within an inner gimbal assembly (IGA) including an IGA housing and a spin motor configured to rotate the monolithic CMG rotor relative to the IGA housing about a spin axis;
• and
• mounting the IGA to a stator assembly including a stator assembly housing and a torque motor configured to selectively rotate the IGA about a gimbal axis to selectively generate a desired output torque during operation of the CMG.