Sliced lens star tracker
US10641859B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 27, 2017 |
| Grant date | May 5, 2020 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 29, 2037 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01C21/025
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A star tracker includes a lens slice, a pixelated image sensor, an ephemeral database and a processor configured to estimate attitude, orientation and/or location of the star tracker based on an image of one or more celestial objects projected by the lens slice onto the pixelated image sensor. The lens slice is smaller and lighter than an optically comparable conventional lens, thereby making the star tracker less voluminous and less massive than conventional star trackers. A lens slice is elongated along one axis. Optical performance along the elongation axis is comparable to that of a conventional circular lens of equal diameter. Although optical performance along a width axis, perpendicular to the elongation axis, of a lens slice can be significantly worse than that of a conventional lens, use of two orthogonal lens slices provides adequate optical performance in both axes, and still saves volume and mass over a conventional lens.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.