Research: Navigation Sensors

Micro-Navigation Sensor developed at CSNAP with
GPS receiver, MEMS IMU, and lasers

A platoon of small satellites flying in a formation for research and commercial purposes is a realizable dream.  In order to effectively use a platoon of small satellites, however, we need accurate, low-cost, autonomous, and small navigation sensors.  Thus, in this project we develop an autonomously aligning micro-navigation sensor network for formation flying small satellites.  Researchers at CSNAP will develop a novel laser alignment technique for the autonomous attitude alignment, a new nonlinear optimal control theory for sensor attitude control, a multi-sensor integration method for accurate attitude determination, a micro-navigation sensor network for a platoon of small satellites, and a testbed for verification of the new theories and algorithms.