Design and development of two axes micro digital sun sensor using linear CMOS detector

Abstract

This paper presents the design details of newly developed high accuracy, compact, two axes Micro Digital Sun Sensor (Micro DSS) using linear Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor detector and N-shaped slit mask for Indian Satellite missions. Due to low mass, compact size and low power, the Micro Digital Sun Sensor is very much suitable for future micro/ nano-satellites as well as for communication satellites to form a Sun sensors network. The electrical model of Micro Digital Sun Sensor is built in Laboratory for Electro-Optics Systems (LEOS). It is eight times lighter and twenty five times more compact than the presently available high accuracy Sun sensor in Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The Micro DSS is tested in front of the Sun sensor calibration facility and accuracy of 0.02° is achieved. In this paper, we have also presented details of the test results of Micro DSS.