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New Trends on Sensor Devices for Space and Defense Applications

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A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Optical Sensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2024 | Viewed by 14127

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Pietro Bia

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Guest Editor

Design Solution Department, Elettronica SpA, 00131 Rome, Italy
Interests: fractional FDTD; antennas; fiber optics; multiphysical modeling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Luciano Mescia

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Guest Editor

Department of Electrical and Information Engineering, Politecnico di Bari, via E. Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy
Interests: electroporation; pulsed eletric field; computational dosimetry; electropermeabilization; cell membrane; transmembrane voltage; electromagnetic simulations
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Dr. Diego Caratelli

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Guest Editor

1. Chief Technology Officer, Department of Research and Development, The Antenna Company, High Tech Campus 29, 5656 AE Eindhoven, The Netherlands
2. Associate Professor, Electromagnetics Group, Department of Electrical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Interests: full-wave analysis and design of passive devices and antennas for satellite; wireless; radar applications; development of analytically based numerical techniques devoted to the modeling of wave propagation and diffraction processes; theory of special functions for electromagnetics; deterministic synthesis of sparse antenna arrays and solution of boundary-value problems for partial differential equations of mathematical physics
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Dr. Antonio Manna

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Research & Innovation Dept., Elettronica S.p.A.Via Tiburtina Valeria Km 13,700 - 00131 Rome – Italy
Interests: UWB antennas; UWB microwave circuits; MMIC GaN devices; Computational Electromagnetics; Microwave Spatial Combiner; Phased Array Antennas; Metamaterials; AOA algorithms.

Special Issue Information

Worldwide investment in novel technology for defense and space applications is growing.

The requirements in terms of high-performance devices working in extreme physical conditions represent a challenging design for the scientific and technical community. Such devices have to be designed ad-hoc depending on the application and the physical working condition.

Several applications in space and defense require sensors regarding a wide range of physical domains, ranging from the electromagnetic spectrum (i.e., antennas, optical and gamma ray sensors) to thermal measurement and movement and gravitational waves.

The aim of the Special Issue is to present the state-of-the-art of sensor devices for space and defense purposes.

Dr. Pietro Bia
Prof. Dr. Luciano Mescia
Prof. Dr. Diego Caratelli
Dr. Antonio Manna
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sensors is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Antennas;
Fiber optic;
Optical devices;
Hyperspectral sensors;
Radiation hardened sensors;
Thermal sensor;
Movement gyroscope;
Gravitational wave antenna;
Remote sensors;
Physical sensors;
Cooperative sensors

Published Papers (5 papers)

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17 pages, 5035 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Dual-Purpose Camera for Attitude Determination and Resident Space Object Detection on a Stratospheric Balloon

by Gabriel Chianelli, Perushan Kunalakantha, Marissa Myhre and Regina S. K. Lee

Sensors 2024, 24(1), 71; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/s24010071 - 22 Dec 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 830

Abstract

Space systems play an integral role in every facet of our daily lives, including national security, communications, and resource management. Therefore, it is critical to protect our valuable assets in space and build resiliency in the space environment. In recent years, we have developed a novel approach to Space Situational Awareness (SSA), in the form of a low-resolution, Wide Field-of-View (WFOV) camera payload for attitude determination and Resident Space Object (RSO) detection. Detection is the first step in tracking, identification, and characterization of RSOs, including natural and artificial objects orbiting the Earth. A space-based dual-purpose camera that can provide attitude information alongside RSO detection can enhance the current SSA technologies which rely on ground infrastructure. A CubeSat form factor payload with real-time attitude determination and RSO detection algorithms was developed and flown onboard the CSA/CNES stratospheric balloon platform in August 2023. Sub-degree pointing information and multiple RSO detections were demonstrated during operation, with opportunities for improvement discussed. This paper outlines the hardware and software architecture, system design methodology, on-ground testing, and in-flight results of the dual-purpose camera payload. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends on Sensor Devices for Space and Defense Applications)

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19 pages, 1553 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sinuous Antenna for UWB Radar Applications

by Luciano Mescia, Gianvito Mevoli, Claudio Maria Lamacchia, Michele Gallo, Pietro Bia, Domenico Gaetano and Antonio Manna

Sensors 2022, 22(1), 248; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/s22010248 - 30 Dec 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3172

Abstract

In this paper, the recent progress on sinuous antennas is detailed, focusing the attention on the antenna geometry, dielectric structure, and miniaturization techniques. In the first part, we introduce the basic principles of the frequency-independent antenna, in particular the self-complementary and log-periodic geometries, as well as the antenna geometries, all characterized in terms of angles. The operating principles, main advantages, system design considerations, limits, and challenges of conventional sinuous antennas are illustrated. Second, we describe some technical solutions aimed to ensure the optimal trade-off between antenna size and radiation behavior. To this aim, some special modification of the antenna geometry based on the meandering as well as on the loading with dielectric structures are presented. Moreover, the cavity backing technique is explained in detail as a method to achieve unidirectional radiation. Third, we present a new class of supershaped sinuous antenna based on a suitable merge of the 2D superformula and the sinuous curve. The effect of the free parameters change on the antenna arm geometry as well as the performance improvement in terms of directivity, beam stability, beam angle, gain, and radiating efficiency are highlighted. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends on Sensor Devices for Space and Defense Applications)

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16 pages, 3855 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fast Star Matching Method Based on Double K-Vector Lookup Tables for Multi-Exposure Star Trackers

by Wenbo Yu, Jie Jiang, Pei Wu, Chuanzhong Xuan and Chunhui Zhang

Sensors 2021, 21(9), 3176; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/s21093176 - 03 May 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1734

Abstract

A high update rate is always one of the vital indices of star trackers. By recording star positions at N moments within a single star image, the multi-exposure imaging approach (MEIA) proposed in an earlier study can improve the attitude update rate of star trackers by N times. Unfortunately, when the existing star matching method is adopted to match the observed and predicted stars in MEIA, the matching time is significantly increased with the increase in multi-exposure times, N, or the number of navigation stars, M, which sharply affects the MEIA’s performance. Therefore, a fast star matching method based on double K-vector lookup tables (DKVLUTs) is proposed to address the above issue. In this method, the information of all predicted stars is used to establish the DKVLUT, and thus, the speed of the whole matching process between observed and predicted stars would be increased effectively by means of the DKVLUT. Both simulations and experiments are conducted to verify the performance of the proposed method. The results both show that the matching time of the proposed method is reduced by nearly one order of magnitude compared with that of the existing method, which demonstrates the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends on Sensor Devices for Space and Defense Applications)

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20 pages, 6890 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Varactor-Based Very Compact Tunable Filter with Wide Tuning Range for 4G and Sub-6 GHz 5G Communications

by Yasir I. A. Al-Yasir, Naser Ojaroudi Parchin, Yuxiang Tu, Ahmed M. Abdulkhaleq, Issa T. E. Elfergani, Jonathan Rodriguez and Raed A. Abd-Alhameed

Sensors 2020, 20(16), 4538; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/s20164538 - 13 Aug 2020

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4465

Abstract

A very compact microstrip reconfigurable filter for fourth-generation (4G) and sub-6 GHz fifth-generation (5G) systems using a new hybrid co-simulation method is presented in this manuscript. The basic microstrip design uses three coupled line resonators with λ/4 open-circuited stubs. The coupling coefficients between the adjacent and non-adjacent resonators are used to tune the filter at the required center frequency to cover the frequency range from 2.5 to 3.8 GHz. The coupling coefficient factors between the adjacent resonators are adjusted to control and achieve the required bandwidth, while the input and output external quality factors are adjusted to ensure maximum power transfer between the input and output ports. Two varactor diodes and biasing circuit components are selected and designed to meet the targeted performance for the tunable filter. The impedance bandwidth is maintained between 95 and 115 MHz with measured return losses of more than 17 dB and measured insertion loss of less than 1 dB. Computer simulation technology (CST) is utilized to design and optimize the presented reconfigurable filter, with hybrid co-simulation technique, using both CST microwave studio (MWS) and CST design studio (DS), is applied to build the model by considering the SPICE representation for the varactor switches and all electronic elements of the biasing circuit. The introduced reconfigurable microstrip filter is also fabricated using a Rogers RO3010 material with a relative dielectric constant of 10.1 and it is printed on a very compact size of 13 × 8 × 0.81 mm³. An excellent agreement is obtained between the simulation and measurement performance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends on Sensor Devices for Space and Defense Applications)

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9 pages, 2441 KiB

Open AccessLetter

Atmospheric Neutron Monitoring through Optical Fiber-Based Sensing

by Sylvain Girard, Adriana Morana, Cornelia Hoehr, Michael Trinczek, Jeoffray Vidalot, Philippe Paillet, Camille Bélanger-Champagne, Julien Mekki, Nicolas Balcon, Gaetano Li Vecchi, Cosimo Campanella, Damien Lambert, Emmanuel Marin, Aziz Boukenter, Youcef Ouerdane and Ewart Blackmore

Sensors 2020, 20(16), 4510; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/s20164510 - 12 Aug 2020

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2454

Abstract

The potential of fiber-based sensors to monitor the fluence of atmospheric neutrons is evaluated through accelerated tests at the TRIUMF Neutron Facility (TNF) (BC, Canada), offering a flux approximatively 10⁹ higher than the reference spectrum observed under standard conditions in New York City, USA. The radiation-induced attenuation (RIA) at 1625 nm of a phosphorus-doped radiation sensitive optical fiber is shown to linearly increase with neutron fluence, allowing an in situ and easy monitoring of the neutron flux and fluence at this facility. Furthermore, our experiments show that the fiber response remains sensitive to the ionization processes, at least up to a fluence of 7.1 × 10¹¹ n cm⁻², as its radiation sensitivity coefficient (~3.36 dB km⁻¹ Gy⁻¹) under neutron exposure remains very similar to the one measured under X-rays (~3.8 dB km⁻¹ Gy⁻¹) at the same wavelength. The presented results open the way to the development of a point-like or even a distributed dosimeter for natural or man-made neutron-rich environments. The feasibility to measure the dose caused by the neutron exposure during stratospheric balloon experiments, or during outer space missions, is presented as a case study of a potential future application. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends on Sensor Devices for Space and Defense Applications)

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