Test mass charge estimation for the space inertial sensor with extended Kalman filter

Abstract Charge Management System (CMS), aimed at mitigating charge-induced noise on an isolated free-falling test mass (TM), is a crucial component of space inertial sensors in various spaceborne gravitational missions. The estimation of TM charge is one of the tasks of CMS, directly impacting CMS performance. However, current methods for TM charge estimation suffer from slow response and significant estimation errors. This paper presents a new charge estimation method that combines the force modulation principle with an extended Kalman filter (EKF). We analyzed the relationship between the TM surface potential and TM motion, then established a mathematical model. The estimation of TM charge is accomplished through the EKF algorithm. A charge estimation simulation model was developed in Simulink, and experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance of the charge estimation methods under varying charge conditions. The experimental results demonstrate that the EKF method obtains more accurate estimation results and faster convergence rates, compared with Kalman Filter (KF) and Quadrature demodulation (QD) methods. The KF and QD methods show larger errors when the estimated charge is greater than 10 6 e order, meanwhile the QD method exhibits slower convergence rates. The presented method is expected to be beneficial for the CMS of on-orbit inertial sensors.