Visible and short-wave infrared star tracker objective designs for UAV navigation
Journal of the Optical Society of America A: Optics and Image Science, and Vision, cilt.43, sa.9, ss.1472-1479, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 43 Sayı: 9
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1364/josaa.600241
- Dergi Adı: Journal of the Optical Society of America A: Optics and Image Science, and Vision
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Applied Science & Technology Source, Compendex, EMBASE, MEDLINE, zbMATH, Engineering Source (EBSCO)
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1472-1479
- Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Precise attitude determination is essential for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) navigation. Inertial measurement units (IMUs) and Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers are commonly used for UAV attitude determination; however, they typically achieve arc-minute-level accuracy, and suffer from drift and noise. This paper presents the design and simulated evaluation of two optical systems operating in the visible and short-wave (SWIR) infrared spectral bands intended to achieve arc-second-level accuracy. All performance results are based on optical simulations in Zemax OpticStudio, with analytical parameter derivations performed in MATLAB. The visible and SWIR optical systems are designed with f-numbers of f/1.7 and f/4.9, respectively. The proposed optical system designs achieve near diffraction-limited performance with thermal stability and manufacturability, indicating their potential suitability for UAV star tracker applications.