Micro-digital sun sensor: An imaging sensor for space applications

Micro-Digital Sun Sensor is an attitude sensor which senses relative position of micro-satellites to the sun in space. It is composed of a solar cell power supply, a RF communication block and an imaging chip which is called APS+. The APS+ integrates a CMOS Active Pixel Sensor (APS) of 512×512 pixels, a 12 bit Analogue to Digital Converter (ADC)...

Self-Powered Sun Sensor Microsystems

An analog sun sensor has been designed based on shade profile proportional to the angle of incidence of incoming light projected onto a 2×2 array of photodiodes. This concept enables an autonomous self-powered optical system with two the main functions (electrical power generation for the amplifier and the optical position measurement)...

Self-powered optical sensor systems

A 0.35 μm CMOS process has been used for on-chip integration of a sun sensor composed of a 2x2 photodiode array and a current-to-voltage amplifier. Unlike conventional sun sensors, a shade profile proportional to the angle of incidence of incoming light is projected onto the photodiodes. This concept enables an autonomous self-powered optical...

Sensors for a world where smaller is better

What started off as the development of a micro digital sunsensor within frame of the MicroNed program has led to a highly optimized single chip detector with a 5*5*0,5 mm size and 25mW power consumption. The target accuracy for a sensor based on this chip is 0,01 degree of arc 1o which would give an unprecedented level of performance. The actual...

Sunsensor miniaturization where is the end?

Sunsensors are used for the attitude control of satellites. The common sensors use either the cosine dependence of the photo current or the sensing of a centroïd movement for a spot which is created by positioning a pinhole at a known distance above a position sensitive detector. Recent research initiated by the Dutch Microned program has lead...

A CMOS image sensor with row and column profiling means

This paper describes the implementation and firstmeasurement results of a new way that obtains row and column profile data from a CMOS Image Sensor, which is developed for a micro-Digital Sun Sensor (μDSS).The basic profiling action is achieved by the pixels with p-type MOS transistors which realize a so-called "Winner Takes It All (WTIA) [1][2]...

Serious microsats need serious instruments, MIBS and the first results

To go beyond the point where micro satellites are seen as a way to qualify technology for use on a real satellite, small instruments are needed that can perform a socially or scientifically significant task. MIBS is a spectrometer operating in the thermal infrared wavelength region, designed in the frame of the phase A study for the ESA...

MIBS past present and future

The microbolometer spectrometer breadboard MIBS is a prism spectrometer that uses an uncooled microbolometer detector array and has been designed for the ESA EarthCARE mission. In order to demonstrate its feasibility a breadboard has been build, and tests have been performed that show good correlation between predicted and achieved results....

MIBS breadboard ready for testing

MIBS is a spectrometer operating in the thermal infrared wavelength region, designed in frame of the phase A study for the ESA EarthCARE mission as part of the multispectral Imaging instrument MSI, which uses a 2D microbolometer array detector in stead of the more common MCT detectors. Utilization of a microbolometer and using an integrated...

The smallsat TIR spectrometer MIBS

In frame of the ESA Earthcare MSI study, TNO Science and Industry has developed a compact spectrometer which is optimized for operation in the 7 to 14 μm wavelength region. By optimizing the throughput of the system, and using the advantages of modern manufacturing technologies to the largest extend possible, an instrument has been created that...

Micro digital sun sensor: System in a package

A novel micro Digital Sun Sensor (μDSS) is under development in the frame of a micro systems technology (MST) development program (Microned) from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. Use of available micro system technologies in combination with the implementation of a dedicated solarcell for power supply and a wireless link for data...

Microbolometer spectrometer: The multi purpose smallsat instrument

Due to lower mass, size and power demands and recognized increased reliability, microbolometer detectors seem to be well suited for small sattelite applications. Due to the improving technical performance, next generation instruments can use uncooled microbolometer arrays without significantly sacrificing performance. An example of this type of...

Microbolometer spectrometer opens hoist of new applications

Current Thermal infra red ( 7..14μm) multispectral imager instruments use cryogenically cooled Mercury Cadmium Telluride (MCT or HgCdTe) detectors. This causes the instruments to be bulky, power hungry and expensive. For systems that have medium NETD (Noise Equivalent Temperature Difference) requirements and can operate with high speed optics (...

Microbolometer spectrometer: Applications and technology

Current Thermal Infra Red (7.14μm) multispectral imager instruments use cryogenically cooled Mercury Cadmium Telluride (MCT or HgCdTe) detectors. Now due to the increased performance of uncooled microbolometer arrays, the next generation of instruments can be designed without cryogenic cooling. TNO TPD has designed a spectrometer called the...

Microbolometer spectrometer MIBS: Smaller and smarter