Abstract
Line-of-sight laser communication application scenarios are numerous including land, mobile, maritime, airborne and space platforms for conventional and tactical utilization. However, beam pointing and stabilization are complicated in dynamic systems such as orbiting satellite to ground receiver, drones, aircrafts and metropolitan free-space optical links vulnerable to natural and artificial disturbances. Small Satellite platforms such as CubeSats are even more challenging due to their limited size and on-board resources. This paper presents an experimental study on a feedback photodiode array sensor assisted control of a one-axis micro-electromechanical (MEMS) fine steering mirror stabilizing a laser communication link on an optical bench in the laboratory. Disturbance profiles similar to vibrations on dynamic platforms are induced into the setup using an electrodynamic vibration machine to test the efficacy of the MEMS fine steering control mechanism. The Photodiode Array (PDA) sensor collocated with an Avalanche Photodiode at the receiving section provides sustained information about the transmitter's movements and beam displacements while the received optical signal strength is continuously monitored. The feedback signals are transmitted to the FSM controller via a radio link. We demonstrate the capacity to stabilize a laser beam transmission in the presence of external disturbances and platform movements using a PDA sensor assisted control.
Highlights
Radio communications since its advent in the early nineteenth century has been the mainstream mode of short and long distance connectivity but its capacity is approaching the critical limits [1][2] in the new era of bigdata, internet of things (IoT) and growing information burst between multiple devices and platforms
We introduce the use of an experimental auxiliary sensor; an 8 x 8 pixels photodiode array (PDA) to monitor the angular displacement of a transmitted laser beam and to support a fine laser pointing controller in the test system we constructed
The purpose of the present paper is to report the performance of the photodiode array sensor as feedback device in the closed-loop control of a MEMS fine steering mirror reflecting a laser beam to a target position at the receiving side
Summary
Radio communications since its advent in the early nineteenth century has been the mainstream mode of short and long distance connectivity but its capacity is approaching the critical limits [1][2] in the new era of bigdata, internet of things (IoT) and growing information burst between multiple devices and platforms. CCD cameras are excellent for detailed laser beam profiling but generally suffers low frame rate adding unwanted time delay to the control feedback loop and limiting the disturbance rejection bandwidth. They are bulkier and consume more power than the others. The purpose of the present paper is to report the performance of the photodiode array sensor as feedback device in the closed-loop control of a MEMS fine steering mirror reflecting a laser beam to a target position at the receiving side. The final part gives the conclusion and recommendations for future work
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