An Introduction to Precision Stabilized Pointing and Tracking Systems

Level: Intermediate Length: 7 hours Format: In-Person Lecture Intended Audience: This material is designed for engineers and managers responsible for design, analysis, development, or test of electro-optical stabilization, pointing and tracking systems or components. A minimum BS degree in an engineering discipline and familiarity with basic control systems is recommended. Description: This course provides a practical description of the design, analysis, integration, and evaluation processes associated with development of precision stabilization, pointing and tracking systems. Major topics include stabilized platform technology, electro-mechanical system configuration and analysis, and typical pointing and tracking system architectures. The notes provided with the course are the same extensive set used in the 3 day in-house version of the course but necessarily taught in abbreviated form so as to fit within the 1 day format. Learning Outcomes: This course will enable you to: - introduce the critical design engineering tools and techniques commonly used - distinguish the performance capabilities of specific design configurations - describe the primary systems engineering tradeoffs and decisions that are required to configure and design stabilization, pointing and tracking systems - acquire the terminology of stabilization, pointing, and tracking systems and understand the common system architectures and operation - define typical electro-mechanical configurations and key sub-systems and components used in precision stabilization and laser pointing systems Instructor(s): James M. Hilkert is president of Alpha-Theta Technologies, an engineering consulting firm specializing in precision pointing, tracking and stabilization applications for clients such as Raytheon, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, DRS, Atlantic Positioning and the U.S. Navy. Prior to founding Alpha-Theta Technologies in 1994, he spent 20 years at Texas Instruments Defense Systems (now Raytheon) where he designed inertial tracking and pointing systems for a variety of military applications and later managed the Control Systems Technology Center. He received the Dr. Engineering degree from Southern Methodist University and MSME and BSME degrees from Mississippi State University, is a member of ASME, AIAA and SPIE, and is currently a member of the faculty at The University of Texas at Dallas where he teaches courses on Dynamics and Control Systems. Event: SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing 2023 Course Held: 30 April 2023