Study of magnetorquers control strategies for energy efficient manoeuvres of a CubeSat

This thesis describes the study and design of attitude control of a 1U CubeSat based on magnetorquers, with the aim of analyzing the most energy efficient control strategies. For this analysis, three different lowaltitude orbits are simulated using Simulink, taking into account a constant disturbance torque. Using two control algorithms, detumbling and Nadir pointing manoeuvers are performed. Once the controllers are adjusted and are able to stabilize the CubeSat, an energy balance is carried out to determine which parameters influence the orbital path. For this, the electrical system is designed consisting of a battery, solar panels installed on Cube- Sat faces as an energy source and magnetorquers that will consume current from the battery. The power consumed during the manoeuvers falls within the expected range and it is further observed that as the influence of the Earth’s magnetic field on the orbit followed by the CubeSat increases, the shorter the stabilization time. That iswhy the best strategy to follow to carry out attitude control is to activate the controller when the magnetic field intensity is higher