A Novel Multi-Aperture Based Sun Sensor Based on a Fast Multi-Point MEANSHIFT (FMMS) Algorithm
With the current increased widespread interest in the development and applications of micro/nanosatellites, it was found that we needed to design a small high accuracy satellite attitude determination system, because the star trackers widely used in large satellites are large and heavy, and therefor...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2011-03-01
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| Series: | Sensors |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/11/3/2857/ |
| _version_ | 1818040749600538624 |
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| author | Gao-Fei Zhang Jian Sun Fei Xing Zheng You |
| author_facet | Gao-Fei Zhang Jian Sun Fei Xing Zheng You |
| author_sort | Gao-Fei Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | With the current increased widespread interest in the development and applications of micro/nanosatellites, it was found that we needed to design a small high accuracy satellite attitude determination system, because the star trackers widely used in large satellites are large and heavy, and therefore not suitable for installation on micro/nanosatellites. A Sun sensor + magnetometer is proven to be a better alternative, but the conventional sun sensor has low accuracy, and cannot meet the requirements of the attitude determination systems of micro/nanosatellites, so the development of a small high accuracy sun sensor with high reliability is very significant. This paper presents a multi-aperture based sun sensor, which is composed of a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) mask with 36 apertures and an active pixels sensor (APS) CMOS placed below the mask at a certain distance. A novel fast multi-point MEANSHIFT (FMMS) algorithm is proposed to improve the accuracy and reliability, the two key performance features, of an APS sun sensor. When the sunlight illuminates the sensor, a sun spot array image is formed on the APS detector. Then the sun angles can be derived by analyzing the aperture image location on the detector via the FMMS algorithm. With this system, the centroid accuracy of the sun image can reach 0.01 pixels, without increasing the weight and power consumption, even when some missing apertures and bad pixels appear on the detector due to aging of the devices and operation in a harsh space environment, while the pointing accuracy of the single-aperture sun sensor using the conventional correlation algorithm is only 0.05 pixels. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T08:19:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ec7cf2b94d7548bcbf2970fc90a33f99 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T08:19:29Z |
| publishDate | 2011-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-ec7cf2b94d7548bcbf2970fc90a33f992022-12-22T01:56:23ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202011-03-011132857287410.3390/s110302857A Novel Multi-Aperture Based Sun Sensor Based on a Fast Multi-Point MEANSHIFT (FMMS) AlgorithmGao-Fei ZhangJian SunFei XingZheng YouWith the current increased widespread interest in the development and applications of micro/nanosatellites, it was found that we needed to design a small high accuracy satellite attitude determination system, because the star trackers widely used in large satellites are large and heavy, and therefore not suitable for installation on micro/nanosatellites. A Sun sensor + magnetometer is proven to be a better alternative, but the conventional sun sensor has low accuracy, and cannot meet the requirements of the attitude determination systems of micro/nanosatellites, so the development of a small high accuracy sun sensor with high reliability is very significant. This paper presents a multi-aperture based sun sensor, which is composed of a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) mask with 36 apertures and an active pixels sensor (APS) CMOS placed below the mask at a certain distance. A novel fast multi-point MEANSHIFT (FMMS) algorithm is proposed to improve the accuracy and reliability, the two key performance features, of an APS sun sensor. When the sunlight illuminates the sensor, a sun spot array image is formed on the APS detector. Then the sun angles can be derived by analyzing the aperture image location on the detector via the FMMS algorithm. With this system, the centroid accuracy of the sun image can reach 0.01 pixels, without increasing the weight and power consumption, even when some missing apertures and bad pixels appear on the detector due to aging of the devices and operation in a harsh space environment, while the pointing accuracy of the single-aperture sun sensor using the conventional correlation algorithm is only 0.05 pixels.http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/11/3/2857/APS sun sensormulti-point MEANSHIFT algorithmmulti-aperture |
| spellingShingle | Gao-Fei Zhang Jian Sun Fei Xing Zheng You A Novel Multi-Aperture Based Sun Sensor Based on a Fast Multi-Point MEANSHIFT (FMMS) Algorithm Sensors APS sun sensor multi-point MEANSHIFT algorithm multi-aperture |
| title | A Novel Multi-Aperture Based Sun Sensor Based on a Fast Multi-Point MEANSHIFT (FMMS) Algorithm |
| title_full | A Novel Multi-Aperture Based Sun Sensor Based on a Fast Multi-Point MEANSHIFT (FMMS) Algorithm |
| title_fullStr | A Novel Multi-Aperture Based Sun Sensor Based on a Fast Multi-Point MEANSHIFT (FMMS) Algorithm |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Novel Multi-Aperture Based Sun Sensor Based on a Fast Multi-Point MEANSHIFT (FMMS) Algorithm |
| title_short | A Novel Multi-Aperture Based Sun Sensor Based on a Fast Multi-Point MEANSHIFT (FMMS) Algorithm |
| title_sort | novel multi aperture based sun sensor based on a fast multi point meanshift fmms algorithm |
| topic | APS sun sensor multi-point MEANSHIFT algorithm multi-aperture |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/11/3/2857/ |
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