A Torque Actuation and Sensing System for Efficient Vibration Control of Highly Flexible Space Structures

Development of a highly compact and efficient multi-axis actuation and sensing system for identification and control of extremely large and flexible space structures is proposed. The initial target application is to provide vibration control for a large, highly flexible, solar array design being developed for the Deployable Structures Experiment (DSX). The DSX mission is currently planned for launch in 2008 and will demonstrate a variety of large, lightweight structures technologies. The proposed system uses off-axis electro-mechanical drives to create a highly efficient architecture for actuation at sub-1 Hz frequencies. Sensing elements measure transmitted force, vibration of the appendage, and actuator rotation.