Design of foldable PCBSat enabling three-axis attitude control

Satellite-on-a-printed circuit board (PCBSat) is a kind of femto-satellite that integrates all the electronic devices onto a PCB. Constrained by the energy/volume capacity, traditional attitude actuators no longer suit the PCBSat. In the paper, employing the flexible PCB material and micro-steppers, a new design that enables the PCBSat to fold and unfold is proposed, and a prototype is manufactured. The foldable PCBSat could achieve attitude maneuver by the spatial multibody dynamical effect. Meanwhile, the copper coils embedded in the boards can form a 3D magnetorquer when the PCBSat is at the orthogonal-fold status, making magnetic detumbling possible. Related theories combined with the detailed design of the PCBSat are introduced, and simulations are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the attitude control mechanism.