Available at: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/3053
Date of Award
6-2025
Degree Name
MS in Aerospace Engineering
Department/Program
Aerospace Engineering
College
College of Engineering
Advisor
Eric Mehiel
Advisor Department
Aerospace Engineering
Advisor College
College of Engineering
Abstract
Hardware-in-the-loop, HIL, testing is an important tool for the validation and verification of systems in the aerospace industry. A common subsystem to be tested using HIL testing is the attitude, dynamics, and controls subsystem, ADCS. This is due to HIL tests using realistic simulations of the space environment to control physical hardware. To create a HIL test, a simulation and HIL interface are needed to test and communicate with hardware. Using a Speedgoat Performance Real-Time Target Machine to communicate with a Raspberry Pi and a Simulink model, three tests were conducted to ensure communication was functioning properly. A simulation, in Simulink, was developed to simulate the ADCS of a satellite in low Earth orbit, LEO, experiencing four disturbance torques. This simulation was used to verify the results of a HIL test that simulated the four disturbance forces and used a Raspberry Pi to calculate the dynamics of a satellite in real-time. The three tests demonstrated that communication between the Simulink model, Speedgoat, and Raspberry Pi was functioning. But due to the precision of the data being sent, there were differences in the HIL tests and the pure simulations. The percent error between the tests and simulations grew over time, suggesting the difference in precision caused the disparity in the results, despite identical equations being used in both.