New Hardware-in-the-Loop Testing Concept for Small Satellite Formation Control Based on Mobile Robot Platforms

:This paper presents a new concept for hardware-in-the-loop testing of formation flying control of small satellites. Instead of commonly used mobile units based on air cushion principle moving on a frictionless surface, units based on wheeled mobile robots are proposed. Recent formation flying missions as well as presumable future applications are used to derive requirements for formation control algorithms and to justify according test demands. Common concepts of formation control testbeds are presented by examples and analyzed with respect to their value for evaluating the derived control needs, especially with respect to small satellites. Their assets and drawbacks are outlined. In order to complement the drawbacks the new testbed concept is derived. Its benefits, especially scalability, long-term and high-precision simulations, are depicted. Last, a combination of the mobile robot based testbed concept with stationary robotic manipulators with 6 degrees of freedom is proposed to add 3D out-of-plane motion for particular satellites and thus enabling 3D formation scenarios.