Sviluppo di un sistema miniaturizzato per il controllo real-time di assetto di nano e microsatelliti

Microsatellites and nanosatellites, such as Cubesat, usually lack of integrated orbital maneuver and attitude control systems. The aim of this thesis has been to realize a control system compatible with 1U Cubesat, integrating magnetic control, mechanical actuators and all needed sensors and electronics for their functioning, creating a device fully independent from the hosting spacecraft, capable to both autonomous and ground controlled operations. In this thesis the numerical simulation campaigns to validate the technical choices are described, together with the development of the electronics and mechanical structure, with the prototype tests and the final system characteristics. Such extreme integration may generate interferences between different devices, such as magnetotorquer and magnetometers. These effects have been studied and evaluated, verifying their amplitude and the validity of the design. Since the project is based on off-the-shelf components and ground electronics, after a brief theoretical introduction on space effects on electronic components, a fault-tolerant system based on newly developed theories has been described. This system has been designed, built and tested, verifying the possibility to realize a reliable digital controller for the attitude control system capable to resist to the space environment. Some advance versions of the control system have also been defined, describing the main characteristics, such as an integrated GPS or the implementation of attitude determination functions using the onboard sensors.