FURI | Spring 2018
Viability Study for a 2-Degree-of-Freedom Canfield Joint for Spacecraft Attitude Control Aplication
This project concerns itself with the development of a Canfield Joint for improved spacecraft attitude control. Current methods rely on a gimballed approach, where multiple different rocket motors fire from the edges of the spacecraft to attain a desired attitude vector. This approach requires significantly more fuel than necessary, and neglects the potential for inertial control. The Canfield Joint should allow for more direct vectoring, and the motion of the arm should allow for inertial control. The current scope of the project deals with designing the equations of motion for the joint, as well as software control.