Sensors

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A Sensor object can be attached to a Spacecraft or GroundVehicle to evaluate contact times to other Spacecraft, GroundVehicles, GroundStations, Planets, Stars, etc, with respect to the sensor's field of view (FOV). FreeFlyer's Sensor object can be used to model earth sensors, sun sensors, antennas, star trackers or any other instrument with a position, orientation, and field of view.

 

The FOV of a sensor can be defined as either a cone, a rectangle (slit), or as a series of azimuth and elevation angles (custom mask). An obscuration mask can also be applied to model any blockages in the sensor, such as a solar panel or another instrument that obscures part of the sensor's FOV. The masking is defined by a series of azimuth and elevation angles.

 

The following Sample Mission Plans (included with your FreeFlyer installation) demonstrate the use of the Sensor object:

 

 

 

Defining the Sensor

Sensor Shape

The field of view of a sensor can be defined three ways:

 

1.Cone Sensor
The Cone Sensor models an instrument that has a conical FOV, with or without an obscuration. The visibility cone size is defined by the cone half angle (i.e. the half-angle measured from the boresight to the edge of the cone) in degrees.
 

2.Rectangle (Slit) Sensor
The Rectangular Sensor FOV is defined by the Height and Width in degrees, where the angles are with respect to the sensor coordinate system. The length of the visibility rectangle in the 3-D View is defined by the Visibility Height in units of kilometers.
 

3.Custom Sensor
The custom FOV is defined as a set of azimuth and elevation angles (in degrees) that define the edge of the FOV, where the angles are defined with respect to the sensor coordinate system.

 

Sensor Orientation

The orientation (pointing) of a Sensor boresight can be defined four ways:

1. BoresightUnitVector: Using a unit vector referenced to the Body Coordinate System (BCS) of the Spacecraft

2. BoresightAngles: Using a set of Euler Angles referenced to the Spacecraft BCS. Uses BoresightRotationSeq to define the correct Euler sequence

3. ZAxisAzimuth/ ZAxisElevation: Using a pair of Azimuth-Elevation angles referenced to the Spacecraft BCS
 

The elevation angle is defined as the angle between the Sensor boresight vector and the Spacecraft body z-axis. The azimuth angle is defined as the angle between the projection of the boresight into the XY-plane and the Spacecraft body x-axis. The z-axis for the sensor coordinate system is the boresight centerline. The x and y -axes are perpendicular to the z-axis, and form a right-handed orthogonal system. Azimuth angles are defined as 0 at the +x axis increasing toward the +y axis. The elevation angle is defined as the angle from the XY-plane towards the z-axis.

4.   Attitude Matrix: Using a Direction-Cosine-Matrix (DCM) referenced to the Spacecraft BCS

5.   SetOrientation: Using the mySensor.SetOrientation(CoordinateSystem) method if the Spacecraft AttitudeRefFrame is set to ICRF

 

Spacecraft1.Sensors[0].SetOrientation(CoordinateSystem1);

 

Defining Obscurations

An obscuration mask can also be applied to each sensor to model any blockages of the FOV. Obscurations can be anything that may block the view of the sensor such as solar arrays, other instruments, or even the Spacecraft body. The obscuration's shape can be configured as a cone, rectangle, or a custom shape. The orientation of the obscuration can be set via a unit vector, Euler angles, a pair of Azimuth-Elevation angles, or an attitude matrix (DCM).

 

Sensor Position

The Sensor position is defined by x, y, z vector components in the BCS with origin at the Spacecraft Body Center.

 

Sensor Visualization

The sensor can be any color. The length of the sensor in the 3D View is defined by the Projection Height in units of kilometers.

 

Spacecraft1.Sensors[0].Color = ColorTools.Yellow;

Spacecraft1.Sensors[0].ProjectionHeight = 1000;

 

The example below displays a sensor created through the Object Editor, with a linear fit connecting the specified azimuth-elevation points, and an obscuration blocking part of its FOV.

 

Custom Sensor with Obscuration Mask

Custom Sensor with Obscuration Mask

 

Sensor Views

Sensor Views allow users to configure an output window displaying the desired objects in a view looking down the boresight of a Sensor.  In the image below, a Sensor View is used to visually confirm access to a Region on the Earth, shown in yellow.

 

3D Sensor View

3D Sensor View

 

 

Example 1: Cone Sensor

To add a Sensor to a Spacecraft via FreeFlyer script, use the Spacecraft.AddSensor() method. You can also use the Attach command. In this example, the cone half angle, display color, and pointing angle of "sensor1" are edited.

 

Spacecraft1.AddSensor("sensor1");

Spacecraft1.Sensors[0].Color = ColorTools.Red;

Spacecraft1.Sensors[0].ConeHalfAngle = 45;

Spacecraft1.Sensors[0].BoresightUnitVector[0] = 1;

Spacecraft1.Sensors[0].BoresightUnitVector[1] = 0;

Spacecraft1.Sensors[0].BoresightUnitVector[2] = 0;

 

A Sensor can also be created through the Spacecraft object editor. The next image shows a 45-degree conical FOV sensor (pointing down the Spacecraft X-axis) in the preview window of the object editor.

 

Cone Sensor with 45-degree half angle

Cone Sensor with 45-degree half angle

 

 

Example 2: Custom Sensor

The following example defines two sensors: a rectangular (slit) sensor with a forward angle of 10 degrees, and a side angle of 60 degrees, pointing along the negative y-axis of the spacecraft; and a custom "heart-shaped" sensor defined by a series of 7 Azimuth-Elevation angles.

 

Spacecraft1.AddSensor("sensor2");

Spacecraft1.Sensors[1].MaskType = 3;

Spacecraft1.Sensors[1].Color = ColorTools.Magenta;

Spacecraft1.Sensors[1].RectangularHalfAngles = {10, 60};

Spacecraft1.Sensors[1].BoresightRotationSeq = {3, 1, 2};

Spacecraft1.Sensors[1].BoresightAngles = {-90, 0, 90};

 

Spacecraft1.AddSensor("sensor3");

Spacecraft1.Sensors[2].Color = ColorTools.Cyan;

Spacecraft1.Sensors[2].MaskType = 2; // custom shape

Spacecraft1.Sensors[2].InterpolationMode = 0;

Spacecraft1.Sensors[2].BoresightMaskPoints = 7;

Spacecraft1.Sensors[2].BoresightAzimuth = {0, 60, 120, 180, 240, 300, 360};

Spacecraft1.Sensors[2].BoresightElevation = {50, 60, 70, 80, 70, 60, 50};

 

View Spacecraft1;

 

Spacecraft with two Sensors

Spacecraft with two Sensors

 

 

Example 3: Determining Visibility from a Sensor

The VisibilitySegment.Visibility() method returns a flag that indicates whether there is visibility from an observer to a target. The VisibilitySegment object allows Spacecraft, Sensors, GroundStations or GroundVehicles to be the observer, and Spacecraft, Sensors, GroundStations, GroundVehicles, CelestialObjects, Stars, or PointGroupPoints can be the target. The VisibilitySegment also allows the user to report the azimuth and elevation of the target in the reference frame of the observer. See VisibilityCalculators for more information. For a summary of the coverage and contact output methods in FreeFlyer organized by observer and target object type, see the Contact Method Summary.

 

VisibilitySegment Segment;

 

Segment.SetObserver(Spacecraft1.Sensors[0]);

Segment.SetTarget(GroundStation1);

 

While (Spacecraft1.ElapsedTime < TIMESPAN(1 days));

 

      If (Segment.Visibility(Spacecraft1.Epoch));

            Report Spacecraft1.EpochText, Segment.Azimuth(Spacecraft1.Epoch), Segment.Elevation(Spacecraft1.Epoch);

      End;

 

      Step Spacecraft1;

 

End;

 

Note: As of FreeFlyer 7.3, the default timing precision mode is nanosecond precision mode. For older Mission Plans that have not yet been converted from millisecond precision mode, the syntax for working with times is different. See the timing precision mode page for more information.

 

 

See Also

•Sensor Properties and Methods

•Attach Command

•Orbit Determination Sensor Setup

•Contact Method Summary

•VisibilityCalculators