Inertial control and measurement system
AssigneeHoneywell International Inc.
InventorsTristram T. Hyde, Lawrence P. Davis
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An inertial control and measurement system is provided for applying inertial control to a vehicle and measuring angular rate of the vehicle. The system includes a control moment gyroscope having a spinning rotor, a gimbal, a gimbal support assembly attached to a spacecraft for allowing rotation of the gimbal about a gimbal axis, and a gimbal motor for rotating the gimbal about the gimbal axis to induce torque. A controller controls the gimbal motor to generate a control torque. The controller further determines an angular rate of the vehicle as a function of a determined torque and a gimbal angle acceleration.
Claims27
A control moment gyroscope for applying torque to a vehicle and determining angular rate of the vehicle, said control moment gyroscope comprising:
- a rotor adapted to be spun about a rotor axis;
- a gimbal supported by an assembly attached to a vehicle, wherein the gimbal is rotatable about a gimbal axis;
- a gimbal motor for rotating the gimbal about the gimbal axis;
- a gimbal acceleration determining device for determining angular acceleration of the gimbal about the gimbal axis;
- a torque determining device for determining torque applied to the gimbal;
- and
- a controller for controlling the gimbal motor to generate a control torque, said controller further determining an angular rate of the vehicle as a function of the determined torque and the angular acceleration of the gimbal.
An inertial control and measurement system for controlling inertial control torque and measuring angular rate, said system comprising:
- a control moment gyroscope comprising a rotor adapted to be rotated by a rotor motor, a gimbal, a gimbal support assembly adapted to be attached to a vehicle for allowing rotation of the gimbal about a gimbal axis, and a gimbal motor for rotating the gimbal about the gimbal axis to generate an inertial control torque;
- and
- a controller for controlling the gimbal motor to generate the inertial control torque, said controller further determining an angular rate of the vehicle as a function of a determined torque applied to the gimbal and a gimbal angular acceleration.
A method of controlling a control moment gyroscope having a rotor adapted to be rotated by a rotor motor, a gimbal, a gimbal support assembly adapted to be attached to a vehicle for allowing rotation of the gimbal about a gimbal axis, and a gimbal motor for rotating the gimbal about the gimbal axis to generate an inertial control torque, said method comprising the steps of:
- applying current to the gimbal motor to generate an inertial control torque;
- determining acceleration of the gimbal about the gimbal axis;
- determining torque present on the gimbal;
- and
- determining an angular rate of the vehicle as a function of the determined torque and the gimbal acceleration.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.