Performance evaluation of a fully wireless power and communication system for thrust stands in small propulsion systems

Advanced small spacecraft missions require a comprehensive understanding of the six-component thrust vector of propulsion systems. During multi-degree-of-freedom thrust measurements, the tension and friction by power and signal harnesses can cause significant measurement disturbances. Although some previous studies have attempted to mitigate such disturbances, no method has been demonstrated to eliminate them by removing the harnesses. This study proposes a novel fully wireless thrust stand incorporating the wireless power transmission system and the wireless measurement and communication system, to eliminate harness-induced disturbances. The objective of this paper is to present the configuration of a wireless system for thrust stands and to evaluate its basic performance experimentally. As basic performance, it was confirmed that the wireless power transmission system can complete battery charging in one to two hours, and the wireless measurement and communication system can measure and communicate with up to 16 channels. In power supply tests using simulated thruster loads, a continuous wireless power supply of several minutes to tens of minutes was achieved under power consumption conditions of 9.67 to 42.2 W, demonstrating sufficient operational time for thrust measurements. These results indicate that fully wireless thrust measurement is feasible for a thruster at power levels of several tens of watts. In addition, potential future challenges of the wireless system were discussed. • Construction of a thrust stand with fully wireless power supply and signal communication. • Successful complete to eliminate the harness connections to a thruster during thrust measurement. • Onboard batteries are charged by wireless power transmission and supply power during thruster operation. • Supplying power in sufficient time for up to 40 W class thruster to conduct thrust measurement. • Up to 16 channels of signal communication for monitoring, data acquisition, and thruster control.