Research software

Tools that make new questions easier to test.

Reusable models and methods help researchers explore spacecraft designs, compare alternatives, and build on one another’s work.

Python · Open source

GenADCS

Generalized ADCS

Change the spacecraft. Keep the experiment comparable.

GenADCS brings spacecraft dynamics, sensors, actuators, estimators, and controllers into one configurable framework. It supports early design studies and research across different hardware arrangements and mission goals.

I developed the research code and methods underlying the full GenADCS framework. I lead method development and co-maintain the open-source package. The framework is used for simulation and ADCS development by small-satellite teams at MIT, Tufts, ETH Zürich, and other institutions.

An example study

Start with a pointing task. Specify the spacecraft, orbit, sensors, and actuator configuration.
Change one design choice. Try a different actuator set, sensor model, estimator, or control method.
Compare the behavior. Examine pointing error, estimation error, and actuator demands under consistent conditions.

Configuration changes can often be made in a few lines. The engineering question remains yours: which combination meets the mission’s needs?

GenADCS is the software framework. Generalized ACS is the mathematical approach for adapting attitude-control laws across goals and actuator configurations.

Documentation →Examples Source code Framework paper Estimation paper

C++ · Python bindings

SALTRO

Satellite Augmented Lagrangian Trajectory Optimizer

Turn a pointing goal into a feasible maneuver.

SALTRO optimizes attitude trajectories using spacecraft dynamics and constraints on actuation, pointing, and momentum. It supports the planning methods described in my attitude-trajectory research and can be used with GenADCS.

I conceived and developed the attitude-planning methods and led development of the ALTRO-based C++ implementation and Python interface with collaborators.

Computational performance

Raspberry Pi 4 benchmarks achieved sub-second cold-start solves for 500 s planning horizons across three tested actuator configurations. These are computational benchmarks; mission-specific timing and closed-loop performance require their own evaluation.

Source code Integration guide 2026 planning paper 2022 planning paper

Supporting tools & research code

Quaternion pointing

Code accompanying the spacecraft-pointing method developed with Kerri Cahoy to minimize unnecessary changes in orientation.

Code →
Journal article →

Doctoral research code

Implementations associated with my dissertation on autonomous, generalized, and underactuated spacecraft ADCS.

Research archive →
Dissertation →

Orbit propagation

Internal research software: a DSST-based propagator for MOCAT, and THALASSA integration into a Fortran Monte Carlo tool for space-debris studies.