Digital Sun Sensor Multi-Spot Operation

Sensors

Giancarlo Rufino¹ 

[1] Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Naples “Federico II”, Piazzale Tecchio 80, 80125 Naples, Italy; E-Mail

关键词: sun sensor;    APS;    centroiding;    attitude determination;    image processing;   

DOI  :  10.3390/s121216451

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The operation and test of a multi-spot digital sun sensor for precise sun-line determination is described. The image forming system consists of an opaque mask with multiple pinhole apertures producing multiple, simultaneous, spot-like images of the sun on the focal plane. The sun-line precision can be improved by averaging multiple simultaneous measures. Nevertheless, the sensor operation on a wide field of view requires acquiring and processing images in which the number of sun spots and the related intensity level are largely variable. To this end, a reliable and robust image acquisition procedure based on a variable shutter time has been considered as well as a calibration function exploiting also the knowledge of the sun-spot array size. Main focus of the present paper is the experimental validation of the wide field of view operation of the sensor by using a sensor prototype and a laboratory test facility. Results demonstrate that it is possible to keep high measurement precision also for large off-boresight angles.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2012 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland