Full-sky autonomous star identification algorithm based on radial and cyclic features

Grid algorithm is a classical star identification algorithm based on star pattern. A three-dimensional grid algorithm for all-sky autonomous star identification is proposed, which is associated with the information of star view magnitude. In contrast with traditional grid algorithm that constructs the grid cells on two-dimensional plane (e.g. x-y coordinate plane), the proposed approach makes use of the star view magnitudes of the neighboring stars as the third dimension (e.g. z-axis). A pattern is generated for each of its three-dimensional grid cells that contain neighboring star are 1, and those without are 0. The progress of star identification is to determine which pattern in the database is associated with the particular sensor pattern. Simulation shows that this method can achieve identification rate of 98.0% while the standard deviation of star position error and star view magnitudes are 1 pixel and 0.3Mv respectively. Compared with the traditional grid algorithm, the identification rate is higher, and the average runtime is 50 percent shorter.

A star pattern identification algorithm, called modified grid algorithm, for attitude determination of spacecraft is addressed. The proposed algorithm is closely connected to a general pattern recognition technique. Each star is characterized by a well-defined pattern that can be determined by the surrounding stars. The so-called grid algorithm is one of the star identification algorithms based upon the pattern recognition approach. The proposed algorithm, is motivated by the conventional grid algorithm. To enhance the performance of the conventional grid algorithm, a modified method using polar grid, virtual grid, and multi-references is proposed. Simulation study is conducted for the demonstration of the new algorithm. The proposed modified grid approach turns out to make the grid algorithm more robust and reliable.

A star identification algorithm based on radial and dynamic cyclic features of star pattern

In this paper a star pattern identification algorithm is addressed. Proposed algorithm is associated in terms of pattern recognition. Each star has related with well-defined pattern that can be determined by the surrounding stars. One of the well-known types related the class is the grid algorithm. The proposed algorithm is based on the algorithm. To enhance the algorithm the modifying methods so called virtual grids and selection multi-reference stars are proposed. This method makes the grid algorithm more accurate and reliable.

This paper uses a radial basis function (RBF) neural network for star identification. A feature vector consisting of distance and angle cosine values is constructed as a library of recognition feature stars and input to the neural network. Then, the network’s output is the number of the corresponding primary star. Comparing the training efficiency and robustness of the grid algorithm with the BP neural network and radial basis function neural network for star identification, the experimental results show that the radial basis function neural network has a strong anti-interference ability against noise and pseudo-star interference. The following conclusions are drawn from the simulation tests: the sample recognition rate of radial basis function neural network algorithm can reach 96% for star position and star addition noise; when the proportion of pseudo-star reaches 20%, the sample recognition rate of radial basis function neural network algorithm is still higher than grid algorithm and BP neural network, which indicates that the radial basis function neural network algorithm has the solid anti-interference ability to both noise and pseudo-star. Therefore, the radial basis function neural network algorithm based on star Identification has specific application prospects.

A robust star identification algorithm with star shortlisting

Income dispersion and counter-cyclical markups

Star identification can be accomplished by several different available algorithms that identify the stars observed by a star tracker. However, efficiency and reliability remain key issues and the availability of new active pixel cameras requires new approaches. Two novel algorithms for recursive mode star identification are presented here. The first approach is derived by the spherical polygon search (SP-search) algorithm, it was used to access all the cataloged stars observed by the sensor field-of-view (FOV) and recursively add/remove candidate cataloged stars according to the predicted image motion induced by camera attitude dynamics. Star identification is then accomplished by a star pattern matching technique which identifies the observed stars in the reference catalog. The second method uses star neighborhood information and a catalog neighborhood pointer matrix to access the star catalog. In the recursive star identification process, and under the assumption of "slow" attitude dynamics, only the stars in the neighborhood of previously identified stars are considered for star identification in the succeeding frames. Numerical tests are performed to validate the absolute and relative efficiency of the proposed methods.

Use of ladar seekers for autonomous vehicle identification and targeting from short range, expendable munitions is increasingly of interest due to the inherently high resolution shape data and the relatively low unit cost of the sensor. In addition, low-cost digital signal processors are now available that can manage the computational workload required for autonomous operation in a wide variety of tactical scenarios. A set of detection, segmentation, and vehicle identification algorithms have been developed which have been demonstrated on real and synthetic seeker data and have been targeted for the architecture and resources available on a tactically realistic processor. Results of preliminary algorithm testing are presented.

In this paper, a modified chi-square test is proposed to develop an autonomous fault detection and identification system for the navigation system in the lunar lander. The conventional fault detection logics, which is based on state chi-square test have had a limitation on fault identification. The proposed modified chi-square test computes modified chi-square parameter (MCP) by comparing the estimated states which is estimate on local filters to the propagated states. Because the MCP only contains the information of the respective sensor measurement, the MCP from failed measurement is contaminated by the fault. Thus, the MCP from other measurements is not contaminated by the fault, then the MCP from failed sensor can be easily distinguished by finding a diverging MCP signal. Using the proposed method, the fault of the lunar lander can be efficiently detected and isolated.

Transient-based fault identification algorithm using parametric models for meshed HVDC grids

The concept of software-defined satellite (SDS) enables in-orbit software reconfiguration and payload virtualization, significantly enhancing the configurability and cross-mission reusability of imaging payloads. However, this flexibility also exposes traditional star identification methods-which depend on fixed intrinsic camera parameters-to severe robustness limitations when dealing with multiple cameras and varying operational conditions. Therefore, a universal and adaptive star identification algorithm is essential to ensure stable and precise attitude determination within the SDS architecture. To this end, this paper proposes a parameter-independent star identification algorithm based on topological invariance features. The method integrates a topological invariant feature coordinate system with a self-organizing map (SOM) neural network, enabling consistent recognition across diverse payload configurations and observation scenarios. Extensive experiments under conditions such as stellar position noise, false-star noise, missing-star noise, focal length variation, and dynamic fields of view demonstrate that the proposed algorithm consistently outperforms three benchmark methods and maintains stable accuracy. These results confirm that the proposed method not only aligns with the SDS philosophy of hardware-software decoupling but also provides a necessary algorithmic foundation for its flexible, reconfigurable, and multi-payload attitude determination framework.

Ellipticity pivot star method for autonomous star identification

Star trackers are currently the most accurate spacecraft attitude sensors. As a result, they are widely used in remote sensing satellites. Since traditional charge-coupled device (CCD)-based star trackers have a limited sensitivity range and dynamic range, the matching process for a star tracker is typically not very sensitive to star brightness. For active pixel sensor (APS) star trackers, the intensity of an imaged star is valuable information that can be used in star identification process. In this paper an improved brightness referenced star identification algorithm is presented. This algorithm utilizes the k-vector search theory and adds imaged stars' intensities to narrow the search scope and therefore increase the efficiency of the matching process. Based on different imaging conditions (slew, bright bodies, etc.) the developed matching algorithm operates in one of two identification modes: a three-star mode, and a four-star mode. If the reference bright stars (the stars brighter than three magnitude) show up, the algorithm runs the three-star mode and efficiency is further improved. The proposed method was compared with other two distinctive methods the pyramid and geometric voting methods. All three methods were tested with simulation data and actual in orbit data from the APS star tracker of ZY-3. Using a catalog composed of 1500 stars, the results show that without false stars the efficiency of this new method is 4∼5 times that of the pyramid method and 35∼37 times that of the geometric method.

The reliability of star sensor in a harsh environment has recently become a research hotspot. In some harsh environment such as plume interference, a large number of false stars can be observed, leading to failure in star identification. In this paper, we propose a false star filtering algorithm, which can be used as a preprocessing algorithm for any existing star identification algorithm. By utilizing the difference between the motion of false stars and true stars, the algorithm performs angular distance tracking and star voting on multiple consecutive frames of star images and achieves false star filtering. The software simulation results show that for the star images containing more than 700 false stars, the algorithm is able to find out all true stars in less than 10 frames, and the success rate of the algorithm remains high when the star sensor rotates at up to 1°/s. The algorithm is also implemented on an existing star senor and evaluated with star images generated by a dynamic star simulator. The experimental results indicate that with the help of the proposed algorithm, the robustness of a normal star identification algorithm can be significantly improved.