In a free space optical communication system, the beacon light will lose most of its energy after long-distance transmission, and the background light from the universe will strongly interfere with it. The four-quadrant detector (4QD) has been widely used in optical communication systems as a high-precision spot position detection sensor. However, if the light signal falling on the 4QD is too weak, the electrical signal of the output position will be very weak, and it will easily be affected by or even submerged in noise. To solve this problem, we propose a method for improving the spot position detection accuracy. First, we analyzed the solution relationship between the actual position of the spot and the output signal of the 4QD, with a Gaussian spot as the incident light model. The output current signal of the detector was then transimpedance-amplified by an analog circuit and the output voltage signal with noise was digitally filtered. An error compensation factor and the gap size of the detector were introduced into the traditional spot position detection model. High-precision spot position information for the 4QD in a complex environment was then obtained using the improved spot position detection model. Experimental results show that the maximum spot position detection error for this method was only 0.0277 mm, and the root mean square error was 0.0065 mm, when the 4QD was in a high background noise environment. The spot position detection accuracy was significantly improved compared with traditional detection algorithms. Real-time detection can therefore be achieved in practical applications.

In deep-space optical communication systems, precise pointing and aiming of the laser beam is essential to ensure the stability of the laser link. In this paper, an adaptive compound control system based on adaptive feedforward and Proportional-Integral-Differentiation (PID) feedback is proposed. The feedforward controller is stabilized using Youla-Kucera (YK) parameterization. In the YK parameterized structure, the free parameter Q(z) consists of an adaptive filter. The proposed method constitutes an adaptive feedforward control algorithm through the adaptive filter Q(z). The problem of suppressing laser jitter is transformed into a problem of minimizing a sensitivity function containing the adaptive filter. The stability of the compound control system is ensured by configuring the individual parameters of the YK parameterized feedforward controller and the PID controller, and the adaptive regulation of the controller is realized on the premise of system stability. To verify the effectiveness of the compound control system, we established an experimental platform for laser beam stabilization control. We experimentally compare the effectiveness of the proposed control method with the classical method. The experimental results show that the method proposed in this paper can effectively suppress the complex laser beam jitter consisting of narrow-band sinusoidal and broad-band continuous vibrations.

In this paper, a tracking and pointing control system with dual-FSM (fast steering mirror) composite axis is proposed. It is applied to the target-tracking accuracy control in a 3D GISC LiDAR (three-dimensional ghost imaging LiDAR via sparsity constraint) system. The tracking and pointing imaging control system of the dual-FSM 3D GISC LiDAR proposed in this paper is a staring imaging method with multiple measurements, which mainly solves the problem of high-resolution remote-sensing imaging of high-speed moving targets when the technology is transformed into practical applications. In the research of this control system, firstly, we propose a method that combines motion decoupling and sensor decoupling to solve the mechanical coupling problem caused by the noncoaxial sensor installation of the FSM. Secondly, we suppress the inherent mechanical resonance of the FSM in the control system. Thirdly, we propose the optical path design of a dual-FSM 3D GISC LiDAR tracking imaging system to solve the problem of receiving aperture constraint. Finally, after sufficient experimental verification, our method is shown to successfully reduce the coupling from 7% to 0.6%, and the precision tracking bandwidth reaches 300 Hz. Moreover, when the distance between the GISC system and the target is 2.74 km and the target flight speed is 7 m/s, the tracking accuracy of the system is improved from 15.7 μrad (σ) to 2.2 μrad (σ), and at the same time, the system recognizes the target contour clearly. Our research is valuable to put the GISC technology into practical applications.

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) ARS can precisely detect angular vibration information with a bandwidth of up to one kilohertz. However, due to secondary flow and viscous force, it experiences performance degradation when measuring low-frequency angular vibrations. This paper presents an adaptive Kalman filter that uses online angular random walk (ARW) estimation to correct for the low-frequency error of MHD ARS, where a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) gyroscope is used to measure low-frequency vibrations. The proposed algorithm determines the signal frequency based on the ARW coefficients and adjusts the measurement noise covariance to achieve accurate fusion results. Thus, the method solves the problem of frequency-dependent variation of the amplitude response of the sensors in data fusion. Initially, the algorithm calculates ARW coefficient recursively utilizing the measurement signals of both sensors. Then, the operational frequencies of both sensors are determined by analyzing the correlation between the ARW coefficient and frequency. Subsequently, in the Sage-Husa adaptive Kalman filter, the Kalman gain matrix is adjusted by modifying the measurement noise variances of both sensor signals individually. Moreover, the stability of the proposed algorithm is achieved by introducing an adaptive matrix to constrain the measurement noise covariance estimation. In the experiment, the fusion effects of single-frequency and mixed-frequency signals are tested separately. The experimental results show that for frequency variation and frequency mixing, the proposed algorithm in this study significantly improves the fusion results.

The signal-receiving end of acquisition, pointing, and tracking (APT) systems applied to intersatellite laser communication terminals usually uses a fast-steering mirror (FSM) to control the fiber-coupling process, has a complex structural design, and induces large errors in the nonideal coaxial optical path. Herein, we propose a fiber-optic nutator using a piezoelectric ceramic tube (PCT) as the driving unit that allows scanning in the focal plane of the light signal to achieve active fiber coupling in the APT system. Specifically, this article describes the structural design principle of a PCT-based fiber optic nutator, establishes a simulation model of the mechanism, and proves the correctness of the simulation model by measuring the deflection angle of a PCT based on a parallel light collimator. The minimum accuracy of the designed nutator was 0.145 μm, the maximum nutation radius R was 20.09 μm, and the maximum nutation bandwidth was 20 kHz, as determined through simulation. Finally, the design parameters of the nutator were evaluated. The PCT-based fiber optic nutator, which met the design parameters, structurally replaced the fiber optic coupling component FSM and fine tracking camera in conventional APT systems successfully. Therefore, the PCT-based fiber optic nutator allows the active coupling control of signal light to a single-mode fiber (SMF) based on energy feedback on a theoretical basis and promotes the lightweight design of relay optical paths in APT systems. In addition, with future work in optimization of the nutation control algorithm, the scanning range and accuracy of the nutator can be improved.

In intersatellite laser communications, the centroiding accuracy of a laser spot is crucial for maintaining steady communication links. However, the systematic error introduced by discrete sampling restricts further improvement of centroiding accuracy when choosing algorithms that are widely used in engineering. Additionally, the ultrahigh computational complexity and multiple-step iterations of the Gaussian fitting (GF) algorithm are unsuitable for real-time implementation, even though the algorithm can achieve the highest centroiding accuracy. In this study, we propose a laser spot centroiding algorithm based on template correlation to simultaneously satisfy the requirements of real-time performance and accuracy. The proposed algorithm evaluates the central location of a laser spot by obtaining the index of the maximum Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC). Simulations performed under different conditions reveal that the proposed algorithm is robust against the interference of background noise and the bad pixels. Moreover, experimental verification is performed based on the implementation on a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) in real-time, meanwhile its accuracy is on the same level as that of the GF algorithm and better than those of other widely-used algorithms. Therefore, the proposed algorithm is suitable for accurate real-time locating of laser spots in engineering applications of the intersatellite laser communications