Spatial Tracker for an Air-to-Ground Laser Communication

In this thesis, I designed several of the hardware components of a spatial tracker for an air-to-ground laser communication system; these include a PWM switching amplifier and the control systems for driving the primary steering and tracking ele-ments required in the acquisition and maintenance of an optical communication link. The hardware was designed for low size, weight, and power (SWaP), low cost, and easy system integration. A performance analysis is presented comparing the designed hardware to a benchmark lasercom system developed at MIT Lincoln Laboratory