Single Axis Attitude Determination and Control System Capstone Project
Electrical power system and mechanical design
In my capstone project, I took the lead role in designing the electrical power system, chassis, and assembly.
My capstone project consisted of a successfully designed, built, and tested single-axis Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) prototype. Using low-cost components for a total build cost of ~$356, the system demonstrated coarse and fine sun tracking (4.7° absolute error under ideal calibration), magnetic-field-based Earth pointing with 5° accuracy (exceeding the 15° target), and magnetorquer-based detumbling capable of fully de-saturating the reaction wheel in 72 seconds.
Housed on a low-friction chassis, the complete system validated reaction wheel control, vector estimation from both light and magnetic sensors, mode switching (sun-tracking, Earth-tracking, calibration, detumbling), and seamless subsystem integration using an Arduino Mega.
My individual contributions were the mechanical design of the entire chassis and test platform — the main gantry, layered acrylic structure, low-friction dual ball-bearing rotary joint, component mounting, and balance optimization, laid out around the volume and connectivity needs of every component — as well as the complete power supply subsystem: the selection and implementation of all voltage regulators, buck converters, and distribution circuitry required to safely and efficiently power the Arduino Mega, reaction wheel motor, magnetorquers, sensors, and supporting electronics from a single 3S LiPo battery.
