Sun Sensor Navigation for Planetary Rovers: Theory and Field Testing

Furgale, Paul; Enright, John; Barfoot, Timothy D.

doi:10.1109/taes.2011.5937255

Cited by 40 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 16 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This problem inevitably occurs when attitude is estimated using the sun. Furgale et al [5] has examined estimation errors when an attitude determination system uses the sun. As shown in Fig.…”

Section: Altitude Of the Sunmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Attitude determination of planetary exploration rovers using solar panels characteristics and accelerometer

Ishida

Takahashi

2014

Acta Astronautica

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

a b s t r a c tIn this study, we propose a new attitude determination system, which we call Irradiancebased Attitude Determination (IRAD). IRAD employs the characteristics and geometry of solar panels. First, the sun vector is estimated using data from solar panels including current, voltage, temperature, and the normal vectors of each solar panel. Because these values are obtained using internal sensors, it is easy for rovers to provide redundancy for IRAD. The normal vectors are used to apply to various shapes of rovers. Second, using the gravity vector obtained from an accelerometer, the attitude of a rover is estimated using a three-axis attitude determination method. The effectiveness of IRAD is verified through numerical simulations and experiments that show IRAD can estimate all the attitude angles (roll, pitch, and yaw) within a few degrees of accuracy, which is adequate for planetary explorations.

show abstract

Section: Altitude Of the Sunmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Mars exploration rovers, Spirit and Opportunity [4], explored the surface of Mars and gathered a wealth of information using an attitude determination system with cameras and inertial sensors. Furgale et al [5] proposed a system that combined a sun sensor and an accelerometer, and showed its efficiency in experiments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attitude determination of planetary exploration rovers using solar panels characteristics and accelerometer

Ishida

Takahashi

2014

Acta Astronautica

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The rover traverse is partitioned into 23 sections. At the start of each section, a batch of Sun vectors and inclinometer readings was collected and the method described by Furgale et al (2011) was used to estimate the rotation between the Sun sensor frame and the topocentric frame. These known orientations provide a convenient way to compare motion estimates to the GPS data.…”

Section: Rover Traverse Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The parameters for the inter-sensor transformation matrices are given in Table 2. The inter-sensor rotations were obtained using the calibration method described by Furgale et al (2011) and have an uncertainty of the order of 1 • (one sigma). The translations between sensors were hand measured with an uncertainty of a few centimeters.…”

Section: Rover Traverse Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Devon Island rover navigation dataset

Furgale

Carle

Enright

et al. 2012

The International Journal of Robotics Research

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…More recently, Furgale et al (2011a) presented an experimental study of sun sensing as a rover navigational aid. Navigational information is estimated using sun measurements, a local clock, quasi-analytical models of solar ephemeris, and, in some cases, a gravity vector measurement from an inclinometer.…”

Section: Sun Sensing In Rover Navigationmentioning

confidence: 99%