EDUSat

An Educational Platform for Studying Satellite Attitude Control Systems

Authors

  • Aleksandr Efimkin Lomonosov Moscow State University
  • Vladislav Glazunov School No. 179, Moscow
  • Mikhail Kachay Letovo School, Moscow
  • Porfiry Petrov Bauman Moscow State Technical University

Keywords:

CubeSat, engineering education, project-based learning, spacecraft attitude control, quaternions, physical experiment

Abstract

This article presents the EDUSat educational platform in the 2U CubeSat form factor, designed for studying spacecraft architecture and attitude control algorithms. It describes the mechanical structure and reaction wheels, the electronic subsystem based on ESP32 and RP2040 microcontrollers, the quaternion-based mathematical framework, and the test rigs. The results of testing a prototype with one degree of freedom and the experience of using the platform in workshops and summer practical training for school students are discussed. An outline curriculum combining 3D modeling, programming, and analysis of the attitude control system is proposed. The platform enables a transition from simulations to experiments with real sensors and actuators and can serve as a basis for school and university projects. Typical difficulties encountered when transferring algorithms from a model to a prototype are noted.

References

The CubeSat Program, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. CubeSat Design Specification (1U–12U). Revision 14.1. 2022. URL: https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/cubesatdesignspecificationrev14_12022-02-09.pdf.

OmniVision Technologies. OV2640 Color CMOS UXGA (2.0 MegaPixel) CAMERACHIP with OmniPixel2 Technology. Version 1.6. 2006. URL: https://static.chipdip. ru/lib2/a/354/DOC066354995.pdf.

Espressif Systems. ESP32 Series Datasheet. Version 4.7. 2024. URL: https://www.espressif.com/sites/default/files/documentation/esp32_datasheet_en.pdf.

Raspberry Pi Ltd. RP2040 Datasheet. 20.02.2025. URL: https://datasheets.raspberrypi.com/rp2040/rp2040-datasheet.pdf.

Лаборатория «Астродинамика» ФКИ МГУ имени М. В. Ломоносова. MIDE — Missions Integrated Development Environment : Кроссплатформенная среда моделирования аэрокосмических систем. 2025. URL: https://www.astrodynlab.space/mide.

Shoemake K. Animating Rotation with Quaternion Curves // ACM SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics. 1985. Т. 19, № 3. С. 245—254. DOI: 10.1145/325165.325242.

The Regents of the University of Michigan. rowan: a Python package for working with quaternions. Вер. 1.3.2. URL: https://rowan.readthedocs.io/en/v1.3.2/.

Array Programming with NumPy / C. R. Harris, K. J. Millman, S. J. van der Walt [и др.] // Nature. 2020. Т. 585. С. 357—362. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2649-2.

Качай М. А. CubeSat-attitude-control : Репозиторий GitHub. URL: https://github.com/physly/CubeSat-attitude-control.

Downloads

Published

2026-08-12

How to Cite

[1]
Efimkin, A. et al. 2026. EDUSat: An Educational Platform for Studying Satellite Attitude Control Systems. Astronomy Education. 1, 2 (Aug. 2026), 19–25.

Issue

No. 2 (2026)

Section

Student Research Activity

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Aleksandr Efimkin, Vladislav Glazunov, Mikhail Kachay, Porfiry Petrov

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