Session
Technical Session VII: Student Scholarship Competition
Abstract
The Ionospheric Observation Nanosatellite Formation (ION-F) satellite cluster consists of three individual spacecraft, which are being developed by the University of Washington (UW), Utah State University (USU), and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VT). The satellites will demonstrate formation flying and distributed satellite capabilities. A novel component of the Attitude Determination System (ADS) for each satellite is use of low-power, low-mass, inexpensive CMOS cameras for Sun and Earth horizon sensing. This paper describes a candidate camera set of specifications, the configuration of cameras on each ION-F satellite and a sensor fusion scheme for the ADS. Several algorithms for nadir vector determination are described.
Digital CMOS Cameras for Attitude Determination
The Ionospheric Observation Nanosatellite Formation (ION-F) satellite cluster consists of three individual spacecraft, which are being developed by the University of Washington (UW), Utah State University (USU), and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VT). The satellites will demonstrate formation flying and distributed satellite capabilities. A novel component of the Attitude Determination System (ADS) for each satellite is use of low-power, low-mass, inexpensive CMOS cameras for Sun and Earth horizon sensing. This paper describes a candidate camera set of specifications, the configuration of cameras on each ION-F satellite and a sensor fusion scheme for the ADS. Several algorithms for nadir vector determination are described.
