Attitude acquisition from an arbitrary tumbling state using two skewed reaction wheels

A novel technique has been designed that creates rapid nutation damping and accurate spin rate control for a spacecraft with arbitrary inertia ratio. In this approach the satellite incorporates two symmetrically inclined reaction wheels in a V configuration and stabilization is achieved by simultaneously controlling the angular velocity of the satellite and the wheels. The method furnishes gyroscopic stiffness and steers interchange of momentum between the wheels and the satellite main body. A Monte Carlo type approach is used to verify stability and it is shown that the controller provides automatically logical recovery of the desired spin for any initial state and inertia ratio. Moreover, results of single wheel simulations demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed concept.