ETD

• Attitude Control
• Brushless Motor
• CubeSat
• GNC
• IOD
• IOV
• Kalman Filter
• Microcontroller
• PCB
• Reaction Wheels

In this work, the Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) algorithms for the EX-
CITE CubeSat are designed and validated through numerical simulation. EXCITE,
which stands for EXtended Cubesat for Innovative Technology Experiments, is
a small satellite mission currently under development at the University of Pisa.
The project aims to integrate GNC solutions with commercial off-the-shelf (COTS)
components sourced from different vendors.
A comprehensive simulation framework is developed to assess the spacecraft
behavior during nominal pointing operations, as well as during experimental
phases required for payload technology In Orbit Demonstration (IOD) and In Orbit
Validation (IOV). Specifically, the work addresses: attitude guidance algorithms
for pointing maneuvers, three navigation filters for attitude estimation, two control algorithms using reaction wheels and a momentum management algorithm for desaturation using magnetorquers.
All simulations are carried out using Basilisk, the open-source astrodynamics
simulation framework developed at the University of Colorado Boulder, which
provides a highly customizable environment for spacecraft GNC development.
In parallel with the simulation activities, an experimental hardware platform
was developed to enable physical testing of the control and navigation algorithms.
The system integrates two microcontrollers—one dedicated to control tasks and
the other to communication—along with three brushless motors. A custom printed
circuit board (PCB) was designed and manufactured to manage all interconnections
between the hardware components.
The results demonstrate that the proposed GNC architecture satisfies the mis-
sion requirements, establishing a solid foundation for future developments of the
EXCITE mission.