Singularity analysis of rooftop configuration

Control Moment Gyroscopes are widely used momentum exchange devices with spinning rotors and one or more actuated gimbals. The primary problem associated with a control moment gyroscope array is the existence of singularities. Singularities occur when the torque vector is constrained to a plane or a line and hence torque cannot be generated in IR3 space. In this paper, we study the singularity of the rooftop arrangement of a control moment gyroscope array using a recently developed model for control moment gyroscope dynamics. The effect of a non-zero offset between the gimbal and rotor center of masses on the singularity properties of a rooftop configuration is the focus of the study. This study was carried out by numerical simulation of the matrix relating the angular momentum contribution of the single gimbal control moment gyroscope array and the gimbal angle rates for a large number of permutation of the gimbal angles. Comparison with that of the classical model of a control mom...