Sun Sensor Design for Full Field of View Coverage

Abstract

Sun sensors instrument measure the direction of the sun relative to the spacecraft by converting the amount of light energy into an electrical measurement. In this paper, we present a novel geometry, called 3D shape, of sun sensor array that contains three structures: pyramidal structure in the top, cube structure in the middle and inverted pyramidal structure in the bottom. In fact, our aim is to achieve the field of view of sun sensor by selecting an appropriate tilt angle of the Ambient Light Sensors (ALS). To validate our 3D shape, we have developed a mathematical model allowing calculus of solar vector orientation in the sun sensor coordinates. Simulation results show the advantages of the proposed configuration compared with, well used, regular pyramidal shape.