Comparison of TRIAD+EKF and TRIAD+UKF Algorithms for Nanosatellite Attitude Estimation

Two most commonly used sensors on nanosatellites are magnetometer and sun sensor. In this paper, magnetometer and sun sensor measurements are combined gyro measurements to produce enhanced attitude estimation. Tri-Axial Attitude Determination (TRIAD) algorithm is used with Kalman filter to form a complete attitude filter. Sun sensor and magnetometer measurements are selected as inputs to TRIAD algorithm and output is fed to Kalman filter as a measurement. Two different Kalman filters, extended and unscented, are used with TRIAD algorithm. A comparison is given between performances of both Kalman filter.