Extremely Low Resource Optical Identifier: A License Plate for Your Satellite

Palmer, D. M.; Holmes, Rebecca M.

doi:10.2514/1.a34106

Cited by 10 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 10 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Detailed link budget calculations may be found in Ref. 1. Radius cuts were applied to the camera data to isolate the photon detections from each beacon (Figure 7) and produce a list of photon detection times to analyze.…”

Section: Elroi Ground Test Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Extremely Low-Resource Optical Identifier (ELROI) is a low-power optical "license plate" that can be attached to anything that goes into space [1][2][3] . ELROI is designed to help address the problem of space object identification (SOI) in the crowded space around the Earth, where over 19,000 objects-from active satellites to debris fragments-are currently tracked and monitored 4 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…ELROI is a new optical SOI technology which is currently at the prototype stage (Figure 1). The concept has been validated in ground tests 1 , and orbital prototypes are scheduled for launch in late 2018 and beyond. ELROI is an autonomous solar-powered optical beacon that uses short, diffused flashes of laser light at milliwatt average power to encode a unique ID number, which can be read by a small ground telescope during local night using a photon-counting sensor and innovative extreme background-rejection techniques.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This paper is not a comprehensive overview of the ELROI system, and additional details about the beacon hardware, ground station designs, link budgets, and the concept of operations may be found in 1 . Here, we focus on the details of the encoding scheme and data analysis that allow a milliwatt optical signal to be read from orbit.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Extreme background-rejection techniques for the ELROI optical satellite license plate

Holmes

Palmer

2019

Appl. Opt.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Extremely Low-Resource Optical Identifier (ELROI) is a concept for an autonomous, low-power optical "license plate" that can be attached to anything that goes into space. ELROI uses short, omnidirectional flashes of laser light to encode a unique ID number which can be read by a small ground telescope using a photoncounting sensor and innovative extreme background-rejection techniques. ELROI is smaller and lighter than a typical radio beacon, low-power enough to run on its own small solar cell, and can safely operate for the entire orbital lifetime of a satellite or debris object. The concept has been validated in ground tests, and orbital prototypes are scheduled for launch in 2018 and beyond. In this paper we focus on the details of the encoding scheme and data analysis that allow a milliwatt optical signal to be read from orbit. We describe the techniques of extreme background-rejection needed to achieve this, including spectral and temporal filtering, and discuss the requirements for an error-correcting code to encode the ID number. Worked examples with both simulated and experimental (ground test) data will illustrate the methods used. We present these techniques to describe a new photon-counting optical communication concept, and to encourage others to consider observing upcoming test flights. a) rmholmes@lanl.gov; ISR-1, Space Science & Applications b) palmer@lanl.gov; ISR-2, Space & Remote Sensing decoding with prior information, as implemented in (for example) turbo codes, LDPC codes, and, recently, polar codes 19-21 . These types of ECC codes are frequently used in modern digital communications, including space communications, and have known optimal decoding techniques.FUNDING

show abstract

Section: Elroi Ground Test Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Extreme background-rejection techniques for the ELROI optical satellite license plate

Holmes

Palmer

2019

Appl. Opt.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The pixels are also independent and asynchronous, giving the device a high temporal resolution and a very high dynamic range [8]. The characteristics of these devices enable unique opportunities for space imaging and novel approaches to satellite detection and tracking [9], high-speed adaptive optics [10], satellite identification [11] and real-time in-frame astrometry [12].…”

Section: Introduction a Event-based Space Situational Awarenessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Event-Based Object Detection and Tracking for Space Situational Awareness

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this work, we present an optical space imaging dataset using a range of event-based neuromorphic vision sensors. The unique method of operation of event-based sensors makes them ideal for space situational awareness (SSA) applications due to the sparseness inherent in space imaging data. These sensors offer significantly lower bandwidth and power requirements making them particularly well suited for use in remote locations and space-based platforms. We present the first publicly-accessible event-based space imaging dataset including recordings using sensors from multiple providers, greatly lowering the barrier to entry for other researchers given the scarcity of such sensors and the expertise required to operate them for SSA applications. The dataset contains both day time and night time recordings, including simultaneous co-collections from different event-based sensors. Recorded at a remote site, and containing 572 labeled targets with a wide range of sizes, trajectories, and signal-tonoise ratios, this real-world event-based dataset represents a challenging detection and tracking task that is not readily solved using previously proposed methods. We propose a highly optimized and robust feature-based detection and tracking method, designed specifically for SSA applications, and implemented via a cascade of increasingly selective event filters. These filters rapidly isolate events associated with space objects, maintaining the high temporal resolution of the sensors. The results from this simple yet highly optimized algorithm on the space imaging dataset demonstrate robust high-speed event-based detection and tracking which can readily be implemented on sensor platforms in space as well as terrestrial environments.

show abstract