A new concept, employing ground-based lasers, for attitude measurement of flight vehicles on test ranges is described. Two ground-based laser stations are required. Each station consists of a standard laser radar unit with the addition of a continuous-wave laser as well as transmitting and detecting optics for the cw laser. Cooperative vehicles incorporating two roof prisms, in addition to standard retroreflecting elements for tracking are required. The mathematical algorithms and software required to determine vehicle attitude from retroreflected pulse data are presented. Hardware required for application to non-spinning vehicles is described. A single laser-ground station has been installed on Range 1 of Redstone and has been used to determine the space position of missiles, rockets and aircraft. Hardware problems with the attitude subsystem have precluded verification of the attitude measurement concept. (Author)
Research on Test Range Instrumentation for Missiles and Rockets
1979
60 pages
Report
No indication
English
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