Hybrid AC/DC Magnetometer with Attitude Determination and Control System

Active TRL 3 (started at 3, targeting 6)

Description

This effort is to develop a new hybrid magnetometer and attitude determination and control system (HyMag-ADCS). This will be a single package that can be integrated into a CubeSat and consists of a three-axis search coil AC magnetometer and three-axis Quad-mag DC magnetometer. The search coil sensors also act as torque rods for part of the orbit. This work builds upon a series of NASA instrument development grants (including most recently 80NSSC18K1240, entitled, “Development of a new research quality, low-cost inductive magnetometer for heliophysics missions”) that characterized and environmentally tested a new style of commercial magnetometer called a magneto-inductive magnetometer by PNI corporation. That effort was motivated by the development of new algorithms for magnetic noise cancellation using multiple low-cost and low-resource chip-based magnetometers placed around the satellite bus opposed to deploying a single traditional sensor on a boom. This project will develop an attitude control and determination system that can make research quality magnetic measurements from DC to 1 kHz. The system will enable boom-less magnetometry on science and commercial small satellites making large science constellations possible.

Benefits

Support NASA's Heliophysics strategic science objectives to understand the Sun and its interactions with Earth and the solar system, including space weather. This will be achieved by developing/demonstrating instrumentation technology necessary to address the following science goals: Explore the physical processes in the space environment from the Sun to the Earth and throughout the solar system; Advance our understanding of the connections that link the Sun, the Earth, planetary space environments, and the outer reaches of our solar system; Develop the knowledge and capability to detect and predict extreme conditions in space to protect life and society and to safeguard human and robotic explorers beyond Earth.

Details

Technology area	Sensors and Instruments > In Situ Instruments and Sensors
Program	Heliophysics Technology and Instrument Development for Science (H-TIDeS)
Lead organization	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, MI
Start date	2024-02-01
End date	2027-02-28

Project contacts

Listed on TechPort itself — the most direct way to ask about this specific project.

Mark B Moldwin — mark.b.moldwin@nasa.gov
James W Cutler
Lauro V Ojeda
Patrick T Case

How to get involved

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 3) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.