Automation for satellite passive thermal control

We explore the advantage of using genetic algorithm s for the automated design of a small satellite passive thermal control. The control law is a layou t f heterogeneous material patches covering the satellite surface. We tested our candidate material patch solutions with a finite element method simulation of the satellite thermal conditions duri ng direct sun light orbit. We found that the method has great potential to find interesting solutions a lthough it suffers from premature convergence.