Session
Session X: Advanced Sensors
Abstract
An APS (Active Pixel Sensor) based autonomous star tracker (AAST) has been proposed for small satellite and microsatellite attitude determination. A prototype of AAST has been developed. It has low mass of 1kg, low power of 3W, high rate up to 5Hz, and acquisition success rate of higher than 99.9%. The improvements in dimensions and performances are realized with the replacement of the CCD (Charge Coupled Device) by the APS. The optical design of the prototype is based on PSF (Point Spread Function) which is more adaptive for star tracker.s operation than the traditional MTF (Modulation Transfer Function) criterion and can greatly reduce the difficulty of wide field of view aberration balance. The autonomous processing electronics is based on APS-FPGA-DSP flow operation which contributes mostly to the achievements of high integration and high rate. A new method is proposed for the star tracker performances testing, especially for the validation of Lost-In-Space star identification and attitude determination algorithms. In this paper, the optical design tradeoffs, the electrical modularization strategy and the star tracker testing method are introduced. The performances of the AAST prototype have been verified through real night sky experiments.
Presentation Slides
Miniature Autonomous Star Tracker Based on CMOS APS
An APS (Active Pixel Sensor) based autonomous star tracker (AAST) has been proposed for small satellite and microsatellite attitude determination. A prototype of AAST has been developed. It has low mass of 1kg, low power of 3W, high rate up to 5Hz, and acquisition success rate of higher than 99.9%. The improvements in dimensions and performances are realized with the replacement of the CCD (Charge Coupled Device) by the APS. The optical design of the prototype is based on PSF (Point Spread Function) which is more adaptive for star tracker.s operation than the traditional MTF (Modulation Transfer Function) criterion and can greatly reduce the difficulty of wide field of view aberration balance. The autonomous processing electronics is based on APS-FPGA-DSP flow operation which contributes mostly to the achievements of high integration and high rate. A new method is proposed for the star tracker performances testing, especially for the validation of Lost-In-Space star identification and attitude determination algorithms. In this paper, the optical design tradeoffs, the electrical modularization strategy and the star tracker testing method are introduced. The performances of the AAST prototype have been verified through real night sky experiments.
