Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication – Aeronautical vehicle
Patent
1996-11-27
1999-07-13
Mojica, Virna Lissi
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
Aeronautical vehicle
244171, B64G 136, G06G 778
Patent
active
059220333
ABSTRACT:
An earth chord sensor on board a satellite produces an electrical pulse as the satellite spins and sweeps the sensor across the earth. If the satellite is spinning at a low spin rate or if the sensor is measuring a long earth chord, the sensor produces an irregular pulse with sharp voltage peaks rather than a near trapezoidal pulse. The present invention digitizes the output of the earth chord sensor and a processor processes the digitized output through a data buffer to detect the leading edge peak and trailing edge peak of the pulse. The processor may detect the peaks through parabolic curve fitting among the digitized data points of the sensor output. The processor calculates the earth chord time as the time width of the pulse between the detected leading edge peak and trailing edge peak of the pulse and transmits, by telemetry, the calculated earth chord time to a ground station for use in satellite positioning.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4752884 (1988-06-01), Slafer et al.
patent: 4837699 (1989-06-01), Smay et al.
patent: 5020744 (1991-06-01), Schwarzschild
patent: 5452869 (1995-09-01), Basuthakur et al.
Milford Richard I.
Selmon John R.
Yocum John F.
Grunebach Georgann
Gudmestad Terje
Mojica Virna Lissi
Sales Michael W.
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