Patent
Miniature attitude sensing suite
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TLDR
In this paper, a rotational astronomical object-sighting concept was proposed to determine the inertial attitude of an axis of an aerospace vehicle without the star identification or dragback.Abstract:
The present invention provides methods of and apparatus for determining the inertial attitude of an aerospace vehicle. In one embodiment, the invention provides a rotational astronomical object-sighting concept to determine the inertial attitude of an axis of the aerospace vehicle without the star identification or dragback. In another embodiment, the invention provides an attitude measurement apparatus comprising a high sensitivity optical sensor and a low power inertial sensor.read more
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References
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Patent
Navigation system for spinning projectiles
TL;DR: In this article, a multisensor concept is used to measure pitch and yaw angular rates, by measuring Coriolis acceleration along the roll axis and demodulating the pitch and Yaw rates therefrom.
Patent
Techniques for optimizing an autonomous star tracker
TL;DR: In this article, a method for determining the attitude of a spacecraft by observing stars within a starfield is presented, where a set of star match groups are generated by matching pairs of stars observed by the detector with pairs of guide stars from a stored database.
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Apparatus and method for autonomous satellite attitude sensing
William M. Johnson,Howard Musoff +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, an attitude sensing system utilizing simplified techniques and apparatus includes a Kalman filter which receives signals from an inertial measurement unit, a GPS receiver, and an integrated optical assembly.
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Lost-in-space stellar attitude acquisition using multiple star trackers
TL;DR: In this paper, a method for determining the attitude of a spacecraft having at least one star sensor is proposed, which comprises the steps of selecting a first reference star sensor from among the star sensors, designating two stars observed by the first reference sensor as a primary star pair, identifying a candidate star pair corresponding to the primary star pairs, and estimating an inertial orientation of the first star sensor at least in part from the identified candidate star pairs.
Patent
Electronic celestial navigation means
TL;DR: An automatic navigation and guidance system for use in moving vehicles such as air or sea craft, and more particularly, a navigation system utilizing a single automatic star or satellite tracker through which a continuous indication of the longitude and latitude of the moving vehicle may be provided to an automatic guidance system, automatic star selection being provided, the described celestial navigation device providing continuous, accurate monitoring of a further inertial navigation device during normal operation, the further Inertial Navigation Device providing continuous navigation and orientation during interruptions of the celestial navigation devices as mentioned in this paper.