Adaptive Absolute Attitude Determination Algorithm for a Fine Guidance Sensor

Abstract

In order to ensure the attitude determination accuracy and speed of a fine guidance sensor (FGS) in a space telescope with limited onboard hardware computing resources, an adaptive absolute attitude determination algorithm was proposed. The more stars involved in the attitude determination, the higher the attitude accuracy, but more hardware resources will be consumed. By analyzing the relationship between the attitude determination accuracy and the number of stars (NOS) in the field of view (FOV), and the relationship between the detector exposure time and the NOS, an adaptive method of adjusting the NOS in the FOV was proposed to keep the number of observed stars in the FOV of the detector at a target value. The star map recognition algorithm based on improved log-polar transformation has a higher recognition speed than the traditional algorithm but cannot accurately identify and match the corresponding guide star when the number of observed stars is less than the number of guide stars. Thus, a comparison-AND star identification algorithm based on polar coordinates was proposed. In the case of a given line-of-sight pointing and 100-frame image simulation calculation, the root mean square (RMS) value of the line-of-sight pointing error was less than 37 mas in the direction of a right ascension, and less than 25 mas in the direction of declination, as concluded from the experimental simulation.