Related papers: MICROSCOPE instrument in-flight characterization
Quantum technology based on cold-atom interferometers is showing great promise for fields such as inertial sensing and fundamental physics. However, the best precision achievable on Earth is limited by the free-fall time of the atoms, and…
We describe the MAXIMA experiment, a balloon-borne measurement designed to map temperature anisotropy in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) over a wide range of angular scales (multipole range 80 < l < 800). The experiment consists of a…
SOFIA is a 2.5 meter airborne infrared telescope, mounted in a Boeing 747SP aircraft. Due to the large size of the telescope, only a few degrees of azimuth are available at the telescope bearing. This means the heading of the aircraft is…
In order to address the need for an affordable reduced gravity test platform, this work focuses on the analysis and implementation of atmospheric acceleration tracking with an autonomous aerial vehicle. As proof of concept, the vehicle is…
Context. High-contrast imaging is currently the only available technique for the study of the thermodynamical and compositional properties of exoplanets in long-period orbits. The SPICES project is a coronagraphic space telescope dedicated…
The LISA Pathfinder mission will demonstrate the technology of drag-free test masses for use as inertial references in future space-based gravitational wave detectors. To accomplish this, the Pathfinder spacecraft will perform drag-free…
The non-invasive spatiotemporal control of cellular functions, organization of tissues, and even the behavior of small animals has become paramount for advanced therapies. As magnetic fields do not interact with biological matter, their…
Assistive robotic devices can increase the independence of individuals with motor impairments. However, each person is unique in their level of injury, preferences, and skills, which moreover can change over time. Further, the amount of…
Having the ability to estimate an object's properties through interaction will enable robots to manipulate novel objects. Object's dynamics, specifically the friction and inertial parameters have only been estimated in a lab environment…
We present a simple method for accessing the elastic properties of microscopic deformable particles. This method is based on measuring the pressure-induced deformation of soft particles as they are forced through a tapered glass…
Typical experimental measurement is set up as a study of the system's response to a stationary external excitation. This approach considers any random fluctuation of the signal as spurious contribution which is to be eliminated via…
Often it is desirable to stabilize a system around an optimal state. This can be effectively accomplished using feedback control, where the system deviation from the desired state is measured in order to determine the magnitude of the…
Recent advances in optical magnetometry have achieved record sensitivity at both macro- and nano-scale. Combined with high bandwidth and non-cryogenic operation, this has enabled many applications. By comparison, microscale optical…
Compressed sensing proposes to reconstruct more degrees of freedom in a signal than the number of values actually measured. Compressed sensing therefore risks introducing errors -- inserting spurious artifacts or masking the abnormalities…
We present the results of integration and characterization of the SPIDER instrument after the 2013 pre-flight campaign. SPIDER is a balloon-borne polarimeter designed to probe the primordial gravitational wave signal in the degree-scale…
This paper provides an overview of the Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) programme within the ESA Planck mission. The LFI instrument has been developed to produce high precision maps of the microwave sky at frequencies in the range 27-77 GHz,…
The Planck mission will provide full-sky maps of the Cosmic Microwave Background with unprecedented angular resolution (~ 10') and sensitivity (DT / T = 10^-6). This requires cryogenically cooled, high sensitivity detectors as well as an…
Limited flight distance and time is a common problem for multicopters. We propose a method for finding the optimal speed and sideslip angle of a multicopter flying a given path to achieve either the longest flight distance or time. Since…
Formation-flying studies to date have required continuous and minute corrections of the orbital elements and attitudes of the spacecraft.This increases the complexity, and associated risk, of controlling the formation, which often makes…
To achieve mass, power, and cost reduction, there is a trend to reduce the volume of many instruments aboard spacecraft, especially for small spacecraft (cubesats or nanosats) with very limited mass, volume and power budgets. With the…