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Star Tracker Augmented Inertial Navigation System for High Altitude UAV

Award Information
Agency: Department of Defense
Branch: Navy
Contract: N00014-08-M-0182
Agency Tracking Number: N081-073-0564
Amount: $69,993.00
Phase: Phase I
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: N08-073
Solicitation Number: 2008.1
Timeline
Solicitation Year: 2008
Award Year: 2008
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): 2008-05-12
Award End Date (Contract End Date): 2009-03-11
Small Business Information
P.O. Box 71
Hanover, NH 03755
United States
DUNS: 072021041
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 Paul Sorensen
 Principal Investigator
 (603) 643-3800
 phs@creare.com
Business Contact
 James Barry
Title: President
Phone: (603) 643-3800
Email: contractsmgr@creare.com
Research Institution
N/A
Abstract

We propose to develop a low-cost, high-precision navigational sensor system for air vehicles flying at high altitudes and high Mach number that does not rely on satellite navigational systems. We plan to combine a low-cost inertial navigation system with one or more star tracking cameras to provide accurate positional data at high rates for extended periods of time. High altitude balloon missions have demonstrated that it is possible to acquire a sufficient number of stars for accurate attitude determination during daylight and nighttime hours. We plan to combine the highly accurate attitude information from the star camera with a star atlas and the INS to give optimal position estimates with near GPS accuracy. The navigation platform is completely passive and consumes little power. It enables high altitude air vehicles accurate navigation capability even during periods where GPS signals are unavailable due to enemy jamming or otherwise. With the advances in digital equipment, such as high resolution CCD devices, the cost of manufacture can be kept so low that our navigation system can be used on expendable weapons systems.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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