Attitude Determination Sensor Survey - spacecraft-design-lab-2019/documentation GitHub Wiki

Link Type Mass Dimensions Voltage Accuracy Power Interface Price
https://www.adcolemai.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/AMA-MAI-Sun-Sensor.pdf Sun Sensor 3.5 g 28x17x2 mm 3.3 or 5 V Not Listed (raw voltage output) 5 mW 0-5 V output voltage Not listed
https://www.cubesatshop.com/product/nano-ssoc-a60-analog-sun-sensor Sun Sensor 3.7 g 27.4x14x5.9 mm 3.3 V .5 deg ( 3 sigma ) < 2 mA (@ 3.3 V) 0-5 V output voltage 2200 Euro
https://www.cubesatshop.com/product/nss-cubesat-sun-sensor/ Sun Sensor <5 g 33x11x6 mm 5 V <0.5 deg <10 mA 5 analog channels, 9-way Nano-D connector $3300
https://gomspace.com/shop/subsystems/attitude-orbit-control-systems/nanosense-fss-(1).aspx Sun Sensor 3 g 22x11x5.5 mm 3.3 V .5 deg (3 sigma) < 2 mA (@ 3.3 V) Digital interface (I2C) Not listed
http://bradford-space.com/products-aocs-cosine-sun-sensors.php Sun Sensor 24 g 30x20x14.5 mm Passive +/- 3 degrees of arc Passive Typically produces 5 mA Not listed
http://www.byhead.com/index.php/Product/index/id/11 Sun Sensor <5 g 33x11x6 mm 5 V <0.5 deg <10 mA 9 way female Nano-D EUR3,300
https://www.cubesatshop.com/product/digital-fine-sun-sensor/ Sun Sensor <35 g 34x32x20 mm 5 V <0.5 deg RMS 130 mW peak RS-485 UART $12,000
https://www.cubesatshop.com/product/mai-ke-sun-sensor/ Sun Sensor Not Listed 5.08x1.905x0.2 mm 0 to 250 mV 0.5 deg (3 sigma) Not Listed Compatible with MAI-400 ADACS Pack of 6 for $5,940
https://sputnix.ru/en/equipment/cubesat-devices/sun-sensor-flight-proof-1 Sun Sensor 10 g 28 х 23 х 11 mm 4-15 V <0.5 deg (3-Sigma) 15 mW CAN 2.0B 2,655 Euro
https://gomspace.com/shop/subsystems/attitude-orbit-control-systems/nanosense-m315.aspx Magnetometer 8 g 23x20x8 mm 3.3-5 V 15 nT 2.5 mA (@ 3.3 V) Digital interface (I2C slave) Not listed
https://www.st.com/en/mems-and-sensors/iis2mdc.html Magnetometer Not Listed 2x2x.7 mm 1.76-3.6 V 1.13 mA Not Listed I2C or SPI Not listed
https://www.cubesatshop.com/product/nss-magnetometer/ Magnetometer <85 g 96x43x17mm +5V DC <8 nT < 750mW available as 0-5 V analogue outputs or as Digital Serial Interface $15000
https://cdn-shop.adafruit.com/datasheets/HMC5883L_3-Axis_Digital_Compass_IC.pdf Magnetometer 18 mg 3.0x3.0x0.9mm 1.26 to 3.5 V ±0.8mT 100 micro-amp I2C Not listed
https://www.pololu.com/file/0J731/L3GD20H.pdf Gyro Not Listed 3x3x1 mm 2.2-3.6 V 16 bit spanning 245/500/2000 deg/sec 5 mA I2C or SPI $12.75
https://www.siliconsensing.com/products/gyroscopes/crm-pinpoint/ Gyro 0.3 g 6.3x5.5x2.7 mm 3 V 0.14 deg/sec 4 mA SPI <$50
https://www.analog.com/en/products/adis16375.html?doc=ADIS16375.pdf#product-overview Gyro Not Listed 44x47x14 mm 3.3V 300 deg/s Not Listed SPI Not Listed
https://www.vectornav.com/products/vn-100/specifications IMU 3.5 g 24 x 22 x 3 mm 3.2 V to 5.5 V Heading: 2 deg RMS, Pitch/Roll (Static): 0.5 Deg 185 mW Serial TTL, SPI Not Listed
https://www.analog.com/en/products/adis16375.html?doc=ADIS16375.pdf#product-overview IMU 25 g 44 mm × 47 mm × 14 mm 3.3 V 0.45 deg/s RMS 0.5709 W SPI Not Listed
https://www.berlin-space-tech.com/portfolio/star-tracker-st400-and-st200/ Star Tracker 40 g 30 x 30 x 38 mm 3.7–5.0 V 10 arcsec (RMS) 650 mW UART (TTL), RS422 (optional) + i2C + SPI Not Listed
https://www.cubesatshop.com/product/nst-3-nano-star-tracker/ Star Tracker (w/o baffle) 165 g 50 x 50 x 50 mm Not Listed 5″/70″ (3-sigma) Not Listed Not Listed ‎£30,000
https://www.adcolemai.com/attitude-systems/ Star Tracker (w/o baffle) 170 g 50 x 50 x 47 mm 5.0 V 5.7 arcsec 1.5–2.0 W UART TTL / I2C Not Listed
https://www.cubesatshop.com/product/mai-ses-ir-earth-sensor/ Earth Limb Sensor 33 g 43.3 x 31.8 x 31.8 mm 3.3 V 0.25–1.0 deg 132 mW I2C or SCI $14,900

Questions:

  • Could we use the attitude control magnetorquers for attitude determination?
    • I don't think that a magnetorquer is able to perform the same task as magnetometer. They are separate products as the magnetorquer generally just produces the torque by generating a magnetic dipole, but it isn't able to sense the magnetic field itself.
  • Could we use the camera as a sun sensor?
    • Since we are planning on using the camera to take pictures of the Earth, I don't think we can use it as a Sun Sensor. We could use it as a nadir sensor possibly.
  • Can we use GPS for attitude determination (phase difference between antennas)?
    • I don't believe this would work. From what I understand, to do attitude determination using GPS, we either need a (very) large baseline between multiple antennas, or very accurate direction-of-arrival information for each GNSS signal.
  • What's the overall budget/attitude sensor budget?
  • How space-tested/rad hardened must components be? Are COTS MEMS devices ok?
  • What's the mission length?
  • What are the orbit knowledge requirments for the control algorithm? Will we have/need a GPS receiver
  • Does infrastructure exist for the coupled attitude control/power generation issue (i.e. you have less available energy for using the magnetorquers when the solar arrays are pointed away from the sun)? Should this be discussed at the systems level? Should we be able to control based solely on batteries? etc.
  • Where does flight software begin and firmware end? Is GNC responsible for boot-up? etc.

Comments:

  • The ST200 from Berlin Space Technologies is our best bet for a COTS PocketQube Star Tracker, even if it takes up almost 25% of our available volume. The other options are some combination of too big and too expensive.
    • Operating temperature range is -20°C to +40°C, which is narrower than desired and slightly concerning
  • There are researchers in Japan and Korea working on an Arcsecond Pico Star Tracker (APST) that is probably closest to what we need, but there's no ETA on when this could be available for us to use.