Antenna Tracking Systems

Case Study

Antenna Tracking System

Tracking high speed objects from vast distances on a mobile platform is a very difficult task. The application required pointing accuracies of 1 arc-minute while mounted on a vessel which was rocking back and forth at sea state level 5. Our customer and RSI engineers worked together to solve these motion challenges.

Details

Compay Name: Private

Date: Private

Website: Private

Motion Controller Highlights

Motion Modify – Motion trajectories for tracking objects need to be updated on the fly with as little disturbance as possible. Our API enabled our customer to modify motion commands on the fly.

Dual Loop Feedback – In order to achieve the pointing and tracking accuracy required, our customer utilized a feature of our controller which allows a secondary encoder to be used to close the position loop. This ultra precise encoder is directly coupled to the load and significantly improves the tracking and pointing accuracy of the system.

Performance and Reliability – When the mission is critical, our customer trusted our high-performance motion controller because it provides the reliability and performance required in some of the most extreme applications.

RTOS Integration – Our customer is using our RapidCode for INtime library which runs completely on the INtime RTOS. This allows our customer to develop their application and run it on the RTOS which is paramount when latency times, performance, and reliability is critical.

Services Provided by RSI

Custom Control Algorithm Design – RSI assisted in the development of a custom control algorithm which applies a torque bias to opposing motors to eliminate backlash. Coupled with our Dual Loop Feedback feature, this architecture yielded significantly improved tracking accuracy and performance.

Hardware Selection – RSI assisted with the selection of the servo system including the motors, drives, gearheads, precision encoders, and gear segments to withstand the worst elements of nature.

User Interface

Solution Technologies

sRMP EtherCAT Motion Controller
Ultra high Precision Angular Encoders
Servo Motors
High Torque Gearheads
EtherCAT Servo Drives

Customer Benefits

Extremely reliable control solution for mission critical applications.
Custom torque bias control algorithm achieves zero backlash and arc-second system accuracy.
Real time OS integration for application development.
High performance tracking ability to target objects on Land, at Sea, or in the Air.