A hybrid six degree-of-freedom tracking system

An optical/digital/mechanical six degree of freedom tracking system using an optical correlator for image processing is being constructed at NASA's Johnson Space Center. The degrees of freedom are expressed in sensor coordinates as azimuth, elevation, range, line-of-sight rotation, and the two out-of-plane object rotation angles. Hardware for an initial configuration has been assembled and various tracking algorithms and filtering techniques are being implemented and evaluated. The current correlator hardware is based on LCTV SLMs from a commercial television projector. Correlation peak detection and measurement are made using commercially available digital image processing boards. Out-of-plane object rotation, range, and line-of-sight rotation are tracked by various correlation filter techniques. Performance of the current system is presented, as are plans for future configurations.