A satellite is an expensive, complex, delicate instrument. During the deployment of the solar panels, it may become misaligned with respect to Earth and fail to complete its mission. The three momentum wheels maintain the satellite's attitude and stability.

With ADAMS, you are able to model the deployment of the flexible solar panels to determine if the control system is robust enough to maintain the attitude of the satellite. The flexibility characteristics and control system are brought in from FEA software and control system software, respectively.

The plot shows that the angular velocity of the satellite is unsteady as the solar panels deploy. The control system is able to stabilize the satellite at its original attitude.