Determination and control of the satellites´ attitude by using a pyramidal configuration of four control moment gyros

The paper presents a new architecture for mini-satellites´ attitude control using a cluster consisting of four control moment gyros, in pyramidal configuration, and feedback from the quaternion and angular velocity vectors. The designed control law modifies the cluster´s equivalent gyroscopic moment, the equivalent kinetic moment and the angular velocities´ vector, this leading to the modification of the quaternion vector and to the change of the satellite´s attitude. Matlab environment is used for the architecture´s software implementation and validation, this being achieved for a mini-satellite involved in a typical motion around its own axis.