STS/SPACE STATION AND ROBOTIC TRACKING SYSTEMS

CONVENTIONAL RADIO SYSTEMS ARE PROVING INADEQUATE TO SUPPORTTHE FULL AND EFFECTIVE UTILIZATION OF ROBOTICS IN A SPACE STATION ENVIRONMENT. THE TRACKING AND LOCATING OF EXTRA-VEHICULAR ROBOTS IS COMPLICATED BY RADIO TRANSMISSION MULTIPATH AND STATION REFLECTIONS, THE NUMBER OF SIMULTANEOUSLY TRANSMITTING ROBOTS, ANTENNA SHIELDING DUE TO THE GEOMETRY OF ROBOT LOCATION AND RESOLUTION REQUIREMENTS EXACERBATED BY LIMITED TRANSMISSION PATH DIMENSIONS. NEW SIGNAL PROCESSING TECHNIQUES, ARE PROPOSED TO SOLVE THESE PROBLEMS. SCS TELECOM, INC. PROPOSES TO STUDY AND DESIGN A DIRECTION FINDING SYSTEM THAT ACHIEVES A SPACE STATION ROBOTIC TRACKING IMPLEMENTATION THAT OVERCOMES THESE EXISTING TECHNICAL LIMITATIONS BY: UTILIZATION OF A UNIQUE CHIP CODE TO ALLOW FOR INDIVIDUAL ROBOT IDENTIFICATION. UTILIZATION OF STATE-OF-THE-ART FFT HARDWARE CHIPS TO IMPLEMENT THE CROSS-COMPARISON AND DETECTION PROCEDURE. DISCRIMINATE AGAINST SECONDARY MULTIPATH SIGNALS.