Author(s) :

Srishaa S. Subramaniam.

Volume/Issue :

Abstract :

As the demand for Cube Satellites (CubeSats) grows, the need for reliable sources of energy becomes crucial. Small-scale satellites often face failure, where solar panels fail to lock into the correct position, resulting in power loss or mission failure. Reasons for error include mechanical resistance and friction within miniature hinge systems that can prevent solar arrays from reaching their programmed angle relative to the sun. This is often worsened by the limited torque provided by small-scale spring mechanisms. If torque is too low, the panel fails to open; if too high, the mechanical shock can damage the satellite or cause “rebound” misalignments. This project evaluates and compares four types of hinges—Torsion Spring, Conductive, Self-Contained Units, and Hard Stop—to determine which hinge mechanism provided the greatest deployment precision and the lowest alignment error. Without access to physical experimental units, technical information was sourced from aerospace manufacturer databases. The mass moment of inertia, angular acceleration, deployment torque margin, and power loss were computed by means of well-known engineering formulas based on the mass and size of two types of panels: 3-Unit (3U) and 6-Unit (6U). The computational analysis suggests that the Conductive Hinge may provide the highest overall mission efficiency among the hinge mechanisms evaluated. While the Torsion Spring hinge offered the highest raw torque, based on the modeled configuration, the Conductive Hinge was related to an estimate of the mass reduction that can be achieved by eliminating the wiring harness from the system. Furthermore, the integration of a Hard Stop reduced final alignment error to 0.3°, resulting in only a negligible modeled reduction in solar power according to the cosine relationship. Future work will utilize CAD thermal simulation to calculate how the electrical resistance (I 2R) heating within conductive hinges affects the structural spring constant (k) during prolonged solar exposure.