Error Compensation of a Low-Cost Analogue Sun Sensor for Micro-/Nano-satellites

The growth of micro-/nano-satellites requires miniaturized sun sensors which could be applied in the Attitude Determination and Control System easily, conveniently and cheaply. In this work, the error compensation methods of a low-cost Analogue Sun Sensor, COSSA, have been innovatively proposed, which mainly includes two error compensation mathematical models and related testing and calibration methods. From theory and engineering perspectives, Error Source Propagation Model and Linear Surface Fitting Model have been built, respectively; then zero-point calibration method and surface fitting calibration method have been illustrated to compensate the measurement error. After testing and calibration experiment, the accuracy of COSSA prototype is better than \(0.25^\circ \) (1\(\sigma \)), which is 2 \(\sim \) 4 times higher in accuracy compared with most analogue sun sensors. Therefore, the feasibility and effectiveness of error compensation methods could be well-proved.