Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2023, Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 60-68
Development of an algorithm for operation of a wide-angle solar sensor based on a matrix photodetector
A.V. Svede-Shvets
1 , S.A. Prokhorova
1 , N.A. Stroilov
1 , Ya.D. Elyashev
1 1 Space Research Institute RAS, Moscow, Russia
Accepted: 04.07.2023
DOI: 10.21046/2070-7401-2023-20-4-60-68
From the very beginning of the existence of spacecraft (SC), the direction to the Sun in the orientation systems of the SC has been used as the main one. Almost all satellites and interplanetary vehicles contain solar orientation sensors as part of navigation equipment. The Space Research Institute RAS (IKI RAS) has a large groundwork for the development and production of solar orientation sensors. The first developments made by IKI RAS in the 1970s were used as part of scientific instrumentation complexes. Early solar instruments had a very low accuracy of measurements, about 1°, no more was required at that time. The task of creating a much more accurate solar sensor appeared in the early 1990s for geostationary communication spacecraft, where there were rather strict requirements for positioning of transponder antennas. It was supposed to fulfill these requirements, mainly, with the help of stellar orientation sensors, but as the functional reserve onboard the spacecraft it was planned to use the solar sensor in pair with the terrestrial horizon sensor. Accordingly, the requirements for the accuracy of measuring the Sun’s position to 1° in the instrument’s field of view of 60×120° have increased. Currently IKI RAS produces and supplies to the domestic space industry optical solar sensors (OSS and OSS-M) based on the CCD-line and coding mask. But in the near future the nomenclature of solar orientation sensors created in IKI RAS may be supplemented by a new device based on matrix photodetector and wide-angle lens. The article discusses the use of a built-in CMOS-matrix function called “Black Sun”. A description of an algorithm, which was developed taking into account the peculiarities of using the built-in function “Black Sun”, is given and the possibility of implementing the algorithm for building a wide-angle matrix solar sensor is considered and confirmed by field tests.
Keywords: solar sensor, matrix photodetector, image processing algorithm
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