A photodiode based miniature sun sensor. (15th March 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lü, Xiaozhou; Tao, Yebo; Xie, Kai; Wang, Songlin; Li, Xiaoping; Bao, Weimin; Chen, Renjie
• Is Part Of: Measurement science & technology. Volume 28:Number 5(2017:May)
• Publication Date: 2017-03-15
• Subjects: sun sensor -- nanosatellite -- solar vector; Physical measurements -- Periodicals; Scientific apparatus and instruments -- Periodicals; Equipment and Supplies -- Periodicals; Science -- instrumentation -- Periodicals; Technology -- instrumentation -- Periodicals; Mesures physiques -- Périodiques; Physical measurements; Scientific apparatus and instruments; Periodicals; 502.87
• DOI: 10.1088/1361-6501/aa61b5
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0957-0233

Abstract

Abstract: The solar vector is one of the most important parameters for attitude control of nanosatellites. This attitude control must be achieved without the sensors adding significantly to its size or mass. This paper presents a photodiode-based miniature sun sensor, which consists of two triangular pyramidal sensor unit structures, with each unit comprising three micro-silicon photodiodes. The two sensor units are installed on the diagonal of the nanosatellite to form a complete sun sensor capable of achieving a full-field range of solar vector measurements. In this paper, the mathematical model of the short-circuit currents of the silicon photodiodes as a function of the solar vector coordinates is deduced. A sensor sample was built and installed on a nanosatellite model, and the temperature compensation coefficient of the silicon photodiodes was obtained experimentally. The dynamic characteristic, linearity, hysteresis and repeatability of the component were measured. The sun sensor introduced in this paper can be placed on any satellite platform to allow a full range solar vector measurement, and this would result in an increase of only 1.86 g and 0.9 cm 3 of the satellite's mass and volume, respectively.