Numerical Simulation and Kalman-based Control of a Hall Thruster for CubeSats
Keywords:
Electric propulsion, Satellites, Kalman Filter Extended, Particle-In-Cell simulation, Hall thrustersAbstract
This work presents a coupled simulation framework combining a Particle-In-Cell (PIC) model and a Kalman filter-based estimator to evaluate the influence of electric propulsion on CubeSat trajectory control. A three-dimensional PIC simulation of the PHALL II-C Hall thruster was performed using a CAD model developed in SolidWorks and imported into the VSim software. From the PIC simulation, the electric and magnetic fields, electric potential, ion velocity, and thrust (64 mN) were obtained. This thrust value was then used as input for an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) implemented in MATLAB to simulate the orbital behavior of a 6U CubeSat at 700 km altitude under continuous low-thrust conditions. The filter accurately estimated angular position, altitude, and vertical velocity over time, with low Mean Absolute Error and Root Mean Square Error values across all states. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of combining plasma simulations with state estimation techniques for nano and microsatellite mission analysis.
Downloads
References
KOKAL, U. et al. Development of the new bustlab hall thruster with internal coaxial hollow cathode. In: 53rd AIAA/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference. [S.l.: s.n.], 2017. p. 4810.
MARTINS, A. et al. Preliminary experimental results of the phall ii-c with improved magnetic circuit design and hollow cathode. In: IOP PUBLISHING. Journal of Physics: Conference Series. [S.l.], 2019. v. 1365, n. 1, p. 012025.
MARTINS, A. A.; RODRIGO, M.; FERREIRA, J. L. Magnetic field design for a strongly improved phall thruster. In: IOP PUBLISHING. Journal of Physics: Conference Series. [S.l.], 2017. v. 911, n. 1, p. 012024.
FERREIRA, J. L. et al. Development of a solar electric propulsion system for the first brazilian deep space mission iepc-2017-166. 2017.
LAPENTA, G. Particle in cell methods with application to simulations in space weather. Centrum voor Plasma Astrofysica.–Leuven, 2010.
KALMAN, R. E. A new approach to linear filtering and prediction problems. 1960.
BROWN, R. G.; HWANG, P. Y. Introduction to random signals and applied kalman filtering: with matlab exercises and solutions. Introduction to random signals and applied Kalman filtering: with MATLAB exercises and solutions, 1997.
GOEBEL, D. M.; KATZ, I. Fundamentals of electric propulsion: ion and Hall thrusters. [S.l.]: John Wiley & Sons, 2008.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Revista Interdisciplinar de Pesquisa em Engenharia
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Given the public access policy of the journal, the use of the published texts is free, with the obligation of recognizing the original authorship and the first publication in this journal. The authors of the published contributions are entirely and exclusively responsible for their contents.
1. The authors authorize the publication of the article in this journal.
2. The authors guarantee that the contribution is original, and take full responsibility for its content in case of impugnation by third parties.
3. The authors guarantee that the contribution is not under evaluation in another journal.
4. The authors keep the copyright and convey to the journal the right of first publication, the work being licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License-BY.
5. The authors are allowed and stimulated to publicize and distribute their work on-line after the publication in the journal.
6. The authors of the approved works authorize the journal to distribute their content, after publication, for reproduction in content indexes, virtual libraries and similars.
7. The editors reserve the right to make adjustments to the text and to adequate the article to the editorial rules of the journal.
