Abstract
This paper presents an analysis and comparison of attitude control systems on-board Low Earth Obit (LEO) microsatellites based on different reaction wheel configurations. Two configurations are presented, four reaction wheels configuration named tetrahedral configuration and classical three reaction wheels configuration. Three control algorithms, Proportional Derivative, Sliding Mode and Feedback Linearization using Euler angle formulation with different reaction wheel configurations are compared in terms of the settling time and power efficiency. Numerical analysis clearly indicates that the tetrahedral configuration with PD controller is a more logical choice for optimal 3-axis attitude maneuver for LEO microsatellite than the classical three reaction wheels. Also, the results prove that the controllers show the capability of providing accuracy better than 0.015 deg in attitude and 0.015 milli-deg/sec in rate.