Louassaa Khalil, Guerrero Josep M, Khan Baseem, Yousaf Muhammad Zain, Zdiri Mohamed Ali, Zhang Liu, Sivanraju Rajkumar
School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, Zhejiang, China.
Center for Research On Microgrids (CROM), Huanjiang Laboratory, Zhuji, Shaoxing, 311800, Zhejiang, China.
Sci Rep. 2025 Aug 19;15(1):30415. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-10909-y.
The Small Satellite (SmallSat) industry has advanced significantly, with CubeSats playing crucial roles in Earth observation and scientific research due to their low cost and modularity. The Electrical Power System (EPS) is a critical subsystem that integrates photovoltaic sources, energy storage, and power converters to ensure reliable operation. However, EPS design faces challenges from strict size limitations, high power density requirements, and extreme space conditions, demanding robust control strategies. This paper presents a hierarchical control approach for islanded nano-satellite microgrids under real flight conditions. The dual-layer architecture combines a proportional-integral (PI) controller for secondary voltage regulation and a non-singular terminal sliding mode (NTSM) controller for primary disturbance rejection. The solution provides four key advantages: (1) robust handling of dynamic operational conditions including sudden constant power load variations, source fluctuations, and islanding/connection mode transitions; (2) decoupled control architecture separating high-level power management from fast local regulation; (3) optimized computational efficiency for onboard processing constraints; and (4) enhanced environmental robustness through NTSM's inherent stability in extreme thermal/radiation conditions. Comprehensive validation through stability analysis, simulations, and experimental testing demonstrates superior performance versus conventional methods, with significant improvements in transient response speed, steady-state error reduction, and disturbance rejection capability. The proposed framework offers a practical solution for nano-satellite power management, directly addressing the unique constraints of space applications while maintaining system reliability and efficiency under dynamic operational conditions.
小卫星（SmallSat）产业取得了显著进展，立方星因其低成本和模块化特点，在地球观测和科学研究中发挥着关键作用。电力系统（EPS）是一个关键子系统，它集成了光伏电源、能量存储和功率转换器，以确保可靠运行。然而，EPS设计面临着严格尺寸限制、高功率密度要求和极端空间条件带来的挑战，需要强大的控制策略。本文提出了一种在实际飞行条件下用于孤立纳米卫星微电网的分层控制方法。双层架构结合了用于二次电压调节的比例积分（PI）控制器和用于一次干扰抑制的非奇异终端滑模（NTSM）控制器。该解决方案具有四个关键优势：（1）能稳健应对动态运行条件，包括突然的恒功率负载变化、电源波动以及孤岛/连接模式转换；（2）解耦控制架构，将高级电源管理与快速局部调节分开；（3）针对机载处理约束优化计算效率；（4）通过NTSM在极端热/辐射条件下的固有稳定性增强环境鲁棒性。通过稳定性分析、仿真和实验测试进行的全面验证表明，与传统方法相比，该方法具有卓越性能，在瞬态响应速度、稳态误差降低和干扰抑制能力方面有显著改进。所提出的框架为纳米卫星电源管理提供了一种实用解决方案，直接解决了空间应用的独特约束问题，同时在动态运行条件下保持系统可靠性和效率。
