A new modeling and validation of two-axis miniature fine sun sensor

Sun sensors are frequently implemented by satellites for attitude sensing, due to its simple manufacturability and lightweight. A modeling of sun sensors has an important effect on the accuracy of satellite attitude determination. This paper addresses a new modeling of a two-axis miniature fine sun sensor with improved accuracy. Unlike other previous algebraic modeling methods, the newly suggested physical modeling method takes into account the shadowing effect of the slit thickness. It was shown that a newly proposed sun sensor modeling provides a substantial accuracy improvement of 29% compared to the generic algebraic modeling. The proposed sensor modeling was validated using two-axis fine sun sensors with FOV (field of view) of +/- 60 degrees mounted on HAUSAT-2 small satellite, currently under development by SSRL (Space System Research Lab.) at Hankuk Aviation University, Korea. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.