Related papers: Radiometric Actuators for Spacecraft Attitude Cont…
Soft pneumatic actuators enable safe human-machine interaction with lightweight and powerful applied parts. On the other side, they suffer design limitations as regards complex actuation patterns, including minimum bending radii,…
The commercial SmallSat industry is booming and has developed numerous low-cost, capable satellite buses. SmallSats can be used as vehicles for technology development or to host science missions. Missions hosted on SmallSats can answer…
A concept for an Impact Mitigation Preparation Mission, called Don Quijote, is to send two spacecraft to a Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA): an Orbiter and an Impactor. The Impactor collides with the asteroid while the Orbiter measures the…
Matterwaves made up of ultra-cold quantum-degenerate atoms have enabled the creation of tools having unprecedented sensitivity and precision in measuring gravity, rotation or magnetic fields. Applications range from gravitational wave…
We present a new space mission concept that is capable of finding, detecting, and tracking 90% of near-Earth objects (NEO) with H magnitude of $\rm H\leq22$ (i.e., $\sim$140 m in size) that are potentially hazardous to the Earth. The new…
Although general purpose robotic manipulators are becoming more capable at manipulating various objects, their ability to manipulate millimeter-scale objects are usually very limited. On the other hand, ultrasonic levitation devices have…
In this paper, attitude maneuver control without unwinding phenomenon is investigated for rigid spacecraft. First, a novel switching function is constructed by a hyperbolic sine function. It is shown that the spacecraft system possesses the…
Electroaerodynamic propulsion, where force is produced through collisions between electrostatically accelerated ions and neutral air molecules, is an attractive alternative to propeller- and flapping wing-based methods for micro air vehicle…
Robots using cellular-like redundant binary actuators could outmatch electric-gearmotor robotic systems in terms of reliability, force-to-weight ratio and cost. This paper presents a robust fault tolerant control scheme that is designed to…
Robotic arms mounted on spacecraft, known as space manipulator systems (SMSs), are critical for enabling on-orbit assembly, satellite servicing, and debris removal. However, controlling these systems in microgravity remains a significant…
We demonstrate accurate single-qubit control in an ensemble of atomic qubits trapped in an optical lattice. The qubits are driven with microwave radiation, and their dynamics tracked by optical probe polarimetry. Real-time diagnostics is…
In actual implementations of magnetic control laws for spacecraft attitude stabilization, the time in which Earth magnetic field is measured must be separated from the time in which magnetic dipole moment is generated. The latter separation…
Snapping instabilities in soft structures offer a powerful pathway to achieve rapid and energy-efficient actuation. In this study, an eccentric dome-shaped snapping actuator is developed to generate controllable asymmetric motion through…
This work investigates the impact of position and attitude perturbations on the beamforming performance of multi-satellite systems. The system under analysis is a formation of small satellites equipped with direct radiating arrays that…
Magnetic elastomers deform under a magnetic field, working as a soft actuator. Untethered microbot made of magnetic elastomers have great potentials in performing medical tasks inside human body as mini doctors. However, the lack of a…
Solar sails offer a promising solution for fuel free propulsion, enabling novel mission profiles and deeper space exploration. While reaction wheels are standard for spacecraft attitude control, the large moment of inertia of solar sails…
The expansion of commercial launch capabilities has significantly increased opportunities for interplanetary small satellite (SmallSat) missions. As researchers plan for more missions beyond Earth, there is a demand for accessible tools…
We describe a low-cost, open-access, CubeSat-based calibration instrument that is designed to support ground-based and sub-orbital experiments searching for various polarization signals in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). All modern…
Astronomical observations in the X-ray band are subject to atmospheric attenuation and have to be performed in the space. CubeSats offer a cost effective means for space-based X-ray astrophysics but allow only limited mass and volume. In…
With the advent of the nanosat/cubesat revolution, new opportunities have appeared to develop and launch small ($\sim$\ts 1000 cm$^3$), low-cost ($\sim$\ts US\$ 1M) experiments in space in very short timeframes ($\sim$ 2\ts years). In the…