Attitude control system Patent

Development of attitude control system for spacecraft orientatio

Multi-pole multi-zero frequency-independent phase-shifter

A multi-pole, multi-zero design allowed realizing a "true" phase-shifter (not time-delayer) of flat frequency-response over more than 3 decades (30Hz-100kHz), which can be extended to higher frequencies or broader bands thanks to a modular design. Frequency-dependent optimization of a single resistance made also the gain flat to within few percents. The frequency-independent phase-shifter presented can find application in any experiment in which an action needs to be taken (e.g. a measurement needs to be performed) at a fixed phase-delay relative to an event, regardless of how rapidly the system rotates or oscillates.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figure

Star scanner

A star scanner on a spin stabilized spacecraft is described which includes a reticle with a pair of slits having different separations as a function of the spacecraft vertical plane, to form a V slit. The time between a star image crossing one of the slits relative to a reference telemetry time provides an indication of azimuth angle. The time between the image crossing the two slits provides an indication of elevation angle of the star. If a star cluster is detected such that two stars pass the slits in less time than normally required for a single star to cross the two slits, an indication of the cluster occurrence is derived. Means are provided to prevent effective detection of large celestial bodies, such as the sun or moon

Sun tracker with rotatable plane-parallel plate and two photocells Patent

Sun tracker with rotatable plane-parallel plate and two photocell

Metamaterial lens of specifiable frequency-dependent focus and adjustable aperture for electron cyclotron emission in the DIII-D tokamak

Electron Cyclotron Emission (ECE) of different frequencies originates at different locations in non-uniformly magnetized plasmas. For simultaneous observation of multiple ECE frequencies from the outside edge of a toroidal plasma confinement device (e.g. a tokamak), the focal length of the collecting optics should increase with the frequency to maximize the resolution on a line of sight along the magnetic field gradient. Here we present the design and numerical study of a zoned metamaterial lens with such characteristics, for possible deployment with the 83-130 GHz ECE radiometer in the DIII-D tokamak. The lens consists of a concentric array of miniaturized element phase-shifters. These were reverse-engineered starting from the desired Gaussian beam waist locations and further optimized to account for diffraction and finite-aperture effects that tend to displace the waist. At the same time we imposed high and uniform transmittance, averaged over all phase-shifters. The focal length is shown to increase from 1.37 m to 1.97 m over the frequency range of interest, as desired for low-field DIII-D discharges (B = -1.57 T). Retracting the lens to receded positions rigidly moves the waists accordingly, resulting in a good match -within a fraction of the Rayleigh length- of the EC-emitting layer positions at higher fields (up to B = -2.00 T). Further, it is shown how varying the lens aperture might move the waists "non-rigidly" to better match the non-rigid movement of the EC-emitting layers with the magnetic field. The numerical method presented is very general and can be used to engineer any dependence of the focal length on the frequency, including zero or minimal chromatic aberration.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures, http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10762-013-9987-

Local measurement of error field using naturally rotating tearing mode dynamics in EXTRAP T2R

An error field (EF) detection technique using the amplitude modulation of a naturally rotating tearing mode (TM) is developed and validated in the EXTRAP T2R reversed field pinch. The technique was used to identify intrinsic EFs of $m/n = 1/-12$, where $m$ and $n$ are the poloidal and toroidal mode numbers. The effect of the EF and of a resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) on the TM, in particular on amplitude modulation, is modeled with a first-order solution of the Modified Rutherford Equation. In the experiment, the TM amplitude is measured as a function of the toroidal angle as the TM rotates rapidly in the presence of an unknown EF and a known, deliberately applied RMP. The RMP amplitude is fixed while the toroidal phase is varied from one discharge to the other, completing a full toroidal scan. Using three such scans with different RMP amplitudes, the EF amplitude and phase are inferred from the phases at which the TM amplitude maximizes. The estimated EF amplitude is consistent with other estimates (e.g. based on the best EF-cancelling RMP, resulting in the fastest TM rotation). A passive variant of this technique is also presented, where no RMPs are applied, and the EF phase is deduced.Comment: Submitted for publication in Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusio