A comparative analysis of star identification algorithms

Abstract

This paper aims to examine different star identification algorithms in star sensors and compare the previous algorithms with the newly proposed algorithms. The star identification algorithms in this paper include three geometric methods, which require a minimum of five stars in the sensor field of view. These algorithms are compared with the angle, combined triangle, and pyramid algorithms in terms of speed, accuracy, storage capacity, and resistance to false stars using MATLAB software. Except for the angle algorithm, all the other star identification algorithms have high precision and resistance to false stars. In addition, they have a lower speed than those of the algorithms that use fewer stars to form the pattern. Considering the number of stars required for the algorithm, the newly proposed star identification algorithms are suitable for the second generation of star sensors, which have a larger field of view. The simulations are related to the stars brighter than magnitude 4, as well as a star sensor with a square-shaped field of view with a dimension of $13.8^{\circ }\times 13.8^{\circ }$, similar to the ASTRO 15 sensor manufactured by Jena-Optronik GmbH company.