Manned spacecraft will require maintenance robots to inspect and repair components of the spacecraft that are only accessible from the outside. This paper presents a design of a novel free-flying maintenance robot (known as a MaintenanceBot.) The MaintenanceBot uses Control Moment Gyros (CMGs) for manipulator arm and attitude control. This provides high authority control in a compact low power ...

This monograph reports on the development of the attitude determination backbone of the Ionospheric Observation Nanosatellite Formation (ION-F). Three spacecraft with similarly modest pointing constraints comprise the ION-F constellation. Pointing requirements for the constellation are dictated by the formation flying mission objective and communication demands. To satisfy pointing requirements...

Mixed Control Moment Gyro and Momentum Wheel Attitude Control Strategies C. Eugene Skelton II Attitude control laws that use control moment gyros (CMGs) and momentum wheels are derived with nonlinear techniques. The control laws command the CMGs to provide rapid angular acceleration and the momentum wheels to reject tracking and initial condition errors. Numerical simulations of derived control...