Design and comparison of embedded air coils for small satellites

Abstract

The paper discusses the comparison of different shapes of embedded air coils for the attitude control ofsmall satellites. Various systems are available in the market for the attitude control of small satellites such as reactionwheels, permanent magnets, magnetic rods, and thrusters. The available systems have large size, heavier weight, andrelatively higher power consumption. A miniaturized system with less power consumption and heat dissipation is requiredthat can provide the anticipated torque. This paper focuses on the design and comparison of square and circular aircoils embedded in four internal layers (i.e. 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th) of the eight layer CubeSat power management tile(CubePMT) PCB. Each layer has 50 turns of copper traces and four layers have a total of 200 turns. The four embeddedcoils are reconfigurable and can be connected in different configurations (single, series, parallel, and hybrid) throughswitches. The two shapes are compared on the basis of dipole moment, torque generated, power dissipated, time ofrotation, and thermal heat generation.