Title :
Wave Front Sensor for Solar Concentrator Control (October 2007)
Author :
Beasley, Joseph N. ; Holmes, Michael R. ; Yeh, Hen-geul
Author_Institution :
Exp. Demonstration Branch, U.S. Air Force Res. Lab., Edwards AFB, CA, USA
Abstract :
This article is the culmination of research directed into finding a system to control the position of the focal spot of paraboloid concentrators for use in terrestrial and space solar concentration applications. After a brief introduction into the area of study, the article describes how a normal Shack-Hartmann wave front sensor is modified for use in detecting and tracking the focal spot. The paper details the analysis and development of the algorithms used in locating the focal spot on a thruster absorber utilizing a correlation method and an area centroid method. The article concludes with a paragraph on suitable future work.
Keywords :
position control; solar energy concentrators; wavefront sensors; Shack-Hartmann wave front sensor; area centroid method; correlation method; focal spot; paraboloid concentrators; position control; solar concentrator control; space solar concentration; Charge coupled devices; Charge-coupled image sensors; Chemicals; Hydrogen; Lighting; Propulsion; Sensor systems; Solar heating; Solar power generation; Space vehicles;
Journal_Title :
Aerospace and Electronic Systems, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TAES.2009.5310300
