The Gauss House

Haddox, Patrick

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/49214 Copy

Description

Title

The Gauss House

Author(s)

Haddox, Patrick

Issue Date

2014-05

Keyword(s)

Aerospace Engineering

Abstract

The focus of my research is the development of a hardware-in-the-loop (HWIL) attitude determination and control (ADC) simulator for the University of Illinois Cube Sat, IlliniSat-2. IlliniSat-2 measures the Earths magnetic field to determine its pointing direction, much like a digital compass. With this in mind, I developed a simulator to manipulate the magnetic field around the satellite to make it perceive itself to be in orbit. The cage depicted here is a triaxial Helmholtz Coil, which I have nicknamed the Gauss House. There are over 1.5 miles of copper wire wound around the six square rings composing the cage. By selectively running different currents through each coil, I can create a uniform magnetic field within the cage in any direction. Furthermore, by replicating the magnetic field experienced by a satellite running in a real-time software simulation, I am able to convince IlliniSat-2 that it is tumbling in orbit, which allows us to test how the assembled satellite actually functions prior to launch. The arrows depicted here represent the magnetic field created by the Gauss House; the blue arrows represent our desired uniform magnetic field direction. IlliniSat-2 is located at the center of the cage. The background is its perceived orbit.

Type of Resource

• text
• image

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/49214

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2014 Patrick Haddox

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