Fuzzy attitude controller for a spin stabilized microsatellite using only magnetic torquers

A new approach using fuzzy controller is presented for attitude orientation and control of a spin stabilized Microsatellite using only magnetometer data and magnetic torquers. The intention of the study is also to find an inexpensive attitude control system with sufficient higher accuracy for a low Earth orbit Microsatellite. It is found that Fuzzy controller can achieve any orientation in effective way when compared with conventional methods such as B-Dot. Here Controller uses magnetic field of earth along spin axis as input to produce the required output moment to actuate torquer along the same to produce desired torque along the transverse axes (X & Y axes) to orient the spin axis in desired pointing direction. The input-domains and output domain are partitioned with membership functions, resulting in 14 fuzzy rules for each rule-base. Simulation results show the ability of the Fuzzy Controller to produce better results with accuracy lesser than 1° in lesser time when compared with conventional methods for any angle orientation control.