Micro-wheels for attitude control and energy storage in small satellites

Author

Peczalski, A. ; Jacobs, Jaco

Author_Institution

Sensor Lab., Honeywell Inc., Plymouth, MN

Volume

5

fYear

2001

fDate

2001

Firstpage

2483

Abstract

A new type of energy storage and attitude control device is proposed and its projected performance is described. The device, nicknamed the “micro-wheel,” can be built from silicon wafers using standard MEMS fabrication techniques. The micro-wheels enable small satellite missions by integrating energy storage and attitude control into structures so small that they could be incorporated into a satellite´s walls. Typical dimensions are anywhere from a couple of millimeters in diameter to a couple of hundred millimeters in diameter. For a 100-mm diameter wheel the projected momentum density is 9 Nm sec/kg and the energy is 14 W hr/kg

Keywords

aerospace instrumentation; angular momentum; attitude control; electromagnetic actuators; flywheels; magnetic levitation; microactuators; micromachining; 100 mm; MEMS fabrication; attitude control; control algorithm; energy storage; magnetic actuators; magnetic levitation; micro-wheels; momentum density; performance prediction; silicon wafers; small satellites; Batteries; Energy storage; Fabrication; Gravity; Laboratories; Lithium; Magnetic fields; Satellites; Space technology; Wheels;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Aerospace Conference, 2001, IEEE Proceedings.

Conference_Location

Big Sky, MT

Print_ISBN

0-7803-6599-2

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/AERO.2001.931209

Filename

931209