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Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer

Servo-Drive Amplifier for Micro-Satellite Superconductor-Levitated Flywheels, Phase I

Completed Technology Project

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Servo-Drive Amplifier for Micro-Satellite Superconductor-Levitated Flywheels, Phase I
A new servo-drive technology is available to support energy storage and navigation for micro-satellites. Exploiting the ?pinning? effect of high-temperature superconductors, high-speed momentum wheels can be suspended in a stable condition that is virtually independent of speed (unlike magnetic levitation). Aside from the motor drive, this levitation system is compact and highly energy efficient. To be effective it requires a drive that is equally compact and energy efficient. It also requires extremely high servo performance with especially low torque ripple. Barrett proposes an innovation to support such a compact/efficient drive amplifier. Phase I will focus on feasibility of this approach and Phase II will support prototype design and aggressive space qualification of this unit. More »

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This is a historic project that was completed before the creation of TechPort on October 1, 2012. Available data has been included. This record may contain less data than currently active projects.

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