Design and Development of a Facility for Real-Time Tests of Star Tracker Algorithms

This paper deals with the activities carried out at the Department of Aerospace Engineering of the University of Naples “Federico II” for the design, development, and test operation of a star sensor prototype with real-time, fully-autonomous capability. A laboratory facility for indoor tests, based on the simulation of star field scenes, and the relevant software have been realized as well. The system is based on Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) components, thus allowing low cost and short time development. The paper presents a description of the sensor laboratory prototype and the test facility. Performance of the latter are analyzed for both static and dynamic simulations