Digital sun sensor based on the optical vernier measuring principle

Abstract

A novel angle measuring principle, the optical vernier measuring principle, is presented in this paper based on which a high-accuracy digital sun sensor technology is developed. The design, the performance and the test of the digital sun sensor are described. Test results show that the accuracy of the digital sun sensor is better than 0.02° (about 1 min of arc) in the entire FOV (field of view) of ±64°. Compared with other sun sensors, the major advantage of this sun sensor is that high accuracy and large FOV can be realized with a photoelectric detector with fewer pixels.