The Small Satellite Dynamics Testbed (SSDT) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory offers infrastructure that supports small satellite guidance and control testing in a relevant dynamics environment while constrained by the gravity of Earth. One of the testing environments of the SSDT is its planar air-bearing platform, which has two lateral and one rotational degrees of freedom. This paper details the new position-control system and its compressed-gas thrusters of the planar air-bearing test platform, and characterizes the pertinent parameters related to the platform and propulsion system. A detailed description of the hardware and software systems of the platform is provided. Testing shows a maximum float time of 13.5 min, an average maximum thrust per thruster of 0.51 N, a tank pressure drop of 6.85 psi/s, and minimum impulse bit of 40 ms. The paper further presents results necessary for designing position controllers for use on this system, such as the relationship between number of thruster firing and output force, and the timing latency in the thruster firing control system. The paper shows that the embedded computer used in this platform exhibits timing delays of approximately 34 ms. Implications of these results on control system design are discussed in the conclusions.

喷气推进实验室的小型卫星动力学试验台（SSDT）提供的基础设施可在相关的动力学环境中支持小型卫星制导和控制测试，而受到地球重力的限制。SSDT的测试环境之一是其平面的空气轴承平台，该平台具有两个横向自由度和一个旋转自由度。本文详细介绍了新型的位置控制系统及其在平面空气轴承测试平台上的压缩气体推进器，并描述了与平台和推进系统相关的参数。提供了平台的硬件和软件系统的详细说明。测试显示，最大浮动时间为13.5分钟，每个推进器的平均最大推力为0.51 N，油箱压降为6.85 psi / s，最小脉冲位为40 ms。本文还介绍了设计在该系统上使用的位置控制器所必需的结果，例如推进器点火和输出力之间的关系，以及推进器点火控制系统中的时间延迟。该文件表明，在该平台中使用的嵌入式计算机具有约34 ms的时序延迟。结论中讨论了这些结果对控制系统设计的影响。