SEDSAT-II: Design and Implementation of a High Resolution Imaging Payload with On-board Image Analysis
- Paper number
IAC-08.B4.6.A6
- Author
Mr. Tom Nordheim, UK Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, United Kingdom
- Coauthor
Ms. Lavina Parwani, Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, The Philippines
- Coauthor
Mr. Brynjar Larssen, Aberystwyth University, United Kingdom
- Year
2008
- Abstract
SEDSAT-II is an educational picosatellite project undertaken by the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS). Its primary goal is to provide an educational experience for students across the globe, and currently involves students from over a dozen countries, spanning four continents. The primary payload of the SEDSAT-II picosatellite will consist of a high resolution earth imaging subsystem based on a commercially available CMOS imager. Due to the choice of a high resolution imaging system, downlink bandwidth becomes an important consideration. It would then be highly beneficial to implement both on-board image compression and an image analysis and ranking system in the payload processing unit. Following the analysis of the captured data, which will implement feature extraction techniques, the images will be placed in a downlink queue with a priority index score. The score will represent the quality and relevance of the image based on the results. This will ensure that the limited downlink resources are not expended on images that are, in essence, of little or no value to the mission. This paper will focus on the design and implementation of the SEDSAT-II imaging subsystem with emphasis on the on-board image analysis and ranking algorithm. The algorithm, combined with the high resolution imager and image compression, constitutes an approach that has not previously been attempted on an educational picosatellite. The hardware and software design of the imaging system and preliminary test results will be presented and the effectiveness of such an approach will be discussed.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
(absent)