EVALUATION OF SUN POSITION USING THE PHOTOVOLTAIC GENERATION - An Application for Attitude Estimation in Box-Shape Satellites

Ronilson Rocha, Caio Pequeno Gouvêia, Alexandre José Ferreira, Talita Bueno Barbosa

2009

Abstract

It is necessary at least two or more independent known vectors for attitude determination of an artificial satellite. One of these vectors can be the Earth Magnetic Field, which is used as reference in navigation for centuries. Other reference can be the sun, which is easily distinguished of other astronomical objects in the proximities of the Earth. While the Earth Magnetic Field can be measured by a small solid-state three-axis magneto-resistive transducer, the own photovoltaic system of the artificial satellite can provide a evaluation of the azimuthal position of the sun. This paper presents a way to estimate the sun position from the own satellite power system. This information is used for attitude determination, allowing the integration of two important subsystems of an artificial satellite.

References

1. Chen, F., Feng, J., and Hong, Z. (2006). Digital sun sensor based on the optical vernier measuring principle. Measurements Science and Technology, 17:24942498.
2. Garrigós, A., Carrasco, J., Blanes, J., and Sanchis-Kilders, E. (2006). A new sequential switching shunt regulator - digital shunt regulator (S3R-DSR) for solar array regulators. In 2006 IEEE International Symposium on Industrial Electronics - ISIE 06.
3. Keat, J. (1977). Analysis of least-squares attitude determination routine DOAOP. Technical report, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
4. Patel, M. (1999). Wind and solar power systems. CRC Press.
5. Santoni, F. and Bolotti, F. (2000). Attitude determination of small spinning spacecraft using threeaxis magnetometer and solar panels data. In 2000 IEEE Aerospace Conference.
6. Shum, K. and Ashley, C. (1996). A new full shunt switching unit for solar array using coupled-inductor boost converter. In 31st Intersociety Energy Conversion Engineering Conference - IECEC 96.
7. Shuster, M. and Oh, S. (1981). Three-axis attitude determination from vector observations. Journal of Guidance and Control, 4(1):70-77.
8. Sityar, I. (1992). Sun sensor implementation using solar power arrays. Master's thesis, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, USA.
9. Viscito, L. and Cerise, M. (2007). Rate and attitude determination using solar array currents. In 2007 Colorado Space Grant Consortium's: Undergraduate Space Research Symposium.
10. Winetraub, Y., Bitan, S., Nativ, Y., and Heller, A. (2005). Attitude determination advanced sun sensors for picosatellites. In 17th European Union Contest for Young Scientists.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Rocha R., Gouvêia C., Ferreira A. and Barbosa T. (2009). EVALUATION OF SUN POSITION USING THE PHOTOVOLTAIC GENERATION - An Application for Attitude Estimation in Box-Shape Satellites . In Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics - Volume 1: ICINCO, ISBN 978-989-674-000-9, pages 177-182. DOI: 10.5220/0002192601770182

in Bibtex Style

@conference{icinco09,
author={Ronilson Rocha and Caio Pequeno Gouvêia and Alexandre José Ferreira and Talita Bueno Barbosa},
title={EVALUATION OF SUN POSITION USING THE PHOTOVOLTAIC GENERATION - An Application for Attitude Estimation in Box-Shape Satellites},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics - Volume 1: ICINCO,},
year={2009},
pages={177-182},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0002192601770182},
isbn={978-989-674-000-9},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics - Volume 1: ICINCO,
TI - EVALUATION OF SUN POSITION USING THE PHOTOVOLTAIC GENERATION - An Application for Attitude Estimation in Box-Shape Satellites
SN - 978-989-674-000-9
AU - Rocha R.
AU - Gouvêia C.
AU - Ferreira A.
AU - Barbosa T.
PY - 2009
SP - 177
EP - 182
DO - 10.5220/0002192601770182