Abstract
This work addresses the problem of performing an accurate 3D mapping of a flexible antenna surface. Consider a high-gain satellite flexible antenna; even a submillimeter change in the antenna surface may lead to a considerable loss in the antenna gain. Using a robotic subreflector, such changes can be compensated for. Yet, in order to perform such tuning, an accurate 3D mapping of the main antenna is required. This paper presents a general method for performing an accurate 3D mapping of marked surfaces such as satellite dish antennas. Motivated by the novel technology for nanosatellites with flexible high-gain antennas, we propose a new accurate mapping framework which requires a small-sized monocamera and known patterns on the antenna surface. The experimental result shows that the presented mapping method can detect changes up to 0.1-millimeter accuracy, while the camera is located 1 meter away from the dish, allowing an RF antenna optimization for Ka and Ku frequencies. Such optimization process can improve the gain of the flexible antennas and allow an adaptive beam shaping. The presented method is currently being implemented on a nanosatellite which is scheduled to be launched at the end of 2018.
Highlights
The vision of having a reliable and affordable global network which can be accessed from any point on the globe at any time is a huge scientific challenge which has attracted many researches during the last few decades
Most proposed solutions are based on a network of hundreds or thousands of LEO nanosatellites which will constitute a global network with the earth via RF communication
In order to reduce the cost of deploying such network, many new-space companies are working on miniaturizing their satellites—as launching 100 LEO nanosatellites often costs less than launching a single large satellite into a geosynchronous orbit
Summary
The vision of having a reliable and affordable global network which can be accessed from any point on the globe at any time is a huge scientific challenge which has attracted many researches during the last few decades. Most proposed solutions are based on a network of hundreds or thousands of LEO nanosatellites which will constitute a global network with the earth via RF communication These new-space projects are of interest to major companies such as Google, Qualcomm, Facebook, and SpaceX. In order to allow a long-range, wide-band RF communication between a satellite and a ground station, high-gain directional antennas are being used. Having such a dish antenna on-board of the satellite significantly increases its size and weight, and International Journal of Antennas and Propagation almost all current nanosatellites have a limited bandwidth as they use small low-gain antennas allowing a bandwidth of sub-Mbps. The presented framework requires very limited space and computing power, allowing it to be implemented even for small nanosatellites
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