Concentrator Pointing Control Concept for Fiber Optic Augmented Solar Thermal Propulsion Systems

A novel fiber optic sensor concept was introduced, capable of providing pointing telemetry for a solar concentrator pointing control system. A sensor algorithm was discussed and efforts to manufacture a working fiber optic sensor described. The quadrant pointing algorithm demonstrated reasonable robustness to channel cross-coupling effects and reasonable pointing error determination, being able to accurately locate the center of the fiber bundle in modeled and experimental cases. It is anticipated that the combination of control and mechanical activation systems in the sensor would be a viable means of providing closed loop control to solar concentrator pointing mechanisms for a small spacecraft solar thermal propulsion (STP) system.