Sky Polarization-based Orientation Tracking for Live Training Environments

The Sky Polarization Azimuth Sensing System (SkyPASS) exploits naturally occurring sky polarization to measure absolute heading and offers significant performance enhancement over current azimuth sensing systems such as digital compasses or ring laser gyros. The SkyPASS system is a passive optical sensor that can operate at 10s of Hz, has no warm-up or calibration time, does not require leveling, and, based on the results of this Phase I, can be made into a very low size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C) system. In the Phase I, we explored the operational bounds of sky polarization for a weapon orientation application, while also modifying a small, low-cost sensor design to be further refined and built in the Phase II. The objective of the Phase II is to demonstrate this capability by building 2 prototype systems that can be tested in a relevant environment onboard a relevant test platform.