What if your smallsat missions could launch faster with stackable, radiation-tolerant motor controllers built and tested in just six months using Agile development?
A critical aerospace project undertaken by ALTEN Technology involved the rapid development of a scalable motor controller for small Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite missions. This innovative system was designed to control up to eight brushless DC motors for essential satellite antenna deployment. ALTEN Technology engineered stackable motor control boards and integrated an ARM Cortex-M4 processor, utilizing radiation-tolerant COTS components for the hardware and implementing a robust, triple modular redundant (TMR) software architecture to mitigate single-event upsets (SEU). The team also developed a specialized motor control algorithm capable of managing widely varying torque loads. Leveraging Agile methodologies, ALTEN Technology delivered an engineering development unit (EDU) in less than four months and final flight units just two months later, completing the entire product development lifecycle from concept to delivery within a remarkable six-month timeframe, successfully meeting aggressive client schedules and launch milestone dates.