The space-based solar power system is an alternative to the ground-based solar power system because of its round-the-clock availability. For the space-based solar power transmission, the accurate pointing of a laser from space to ground poses a challenging control task. A gimbaled laser target system, which is used for pointing laser to a target, is a test bench for such a transmission system. The objective of this research is to determine the optimal controller for the gimbaled laser target system in terms of pointing error and error variation. In order to achieve the objective, we modeled the gimbaled laser target system, simulated the model with the controllers, and tested them on the test bench. In this thesis, we developed a mathematical model of a two-axis gimbaled laser target system. The model consists of a pitch-yaw gimbal for the dynamic laser motion, brushless dc motors for actuating the gimbal, and an image-based position sensor. We used a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller as the basis for the performance comparison since it is the most commonly used control method in the industry. Then we compared the PID controller with two statistical control methods - Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG), and Minimal Cost Variance (MCV) optimal controllers. We evaluated the pointing performance of the controllers by measuring the mean and the standard deviation of the pointing error. The simulation results indicated that the statistical controllers perform better than the PID controller under Gaussian disturbances. Between the statistical controllers, the LQG method had the smaller pointing error, while the MCV method had the smaller standard deviation of the pointing error. We then implemented the PID, LQG, and MCV controllers in an off-the-shelf dSPACE digital signal processing controller board, and tested the controllers on the test bench in a real time environment. The experimental results showed that the LQG method decreased the mean pointing error by 46.28% compared to the PID method. The LQG method reduced the standard deviation of pointing error by 47.85% compared to the PID method. The MCV method reduced the standard deviation of the pointing error by 53.09% compared to the LQG method. Both the simulation and experimental results showed that the MCV controller improved the pointing error variation performance over the LQG controller significantly, while slightly degrading the pointing error performance of the gimbaled laser target system. Experimental results indicate that the statistical controllers will provide a design parameter either to improve the mean pointing error or the standard deviation of the pointing error for the gimbaled laser target system. Subsequently, we believe that the statistical controllers will improve the space-based solar power transmission efficiency. / Electrical and Computer Engineering

Spacecraft fulfill a myriad of critical functions on orbit, from defense and intelligence to science, navigation, and telecommunication. Spacecraft can also cost several hundred millions of dollars to design and launch, and given that physical access for maintenance remains difficult if not impossible to date, designing high reliability and survivability into these systems is an engineering and financial imperative. While reliability is recognized as an essential attribute for spacecraft, little analysis has been done pertaining to actual field reliability of spacecraft and their subsystems. This thesis consists of two parts. The first part fills the gap in the current understanding of spacecraft failure behavior on orbit through extensive statistical analysis and modeling of anomaly and failure data of Earth-orbiting spacecraft. The second part builds on these results to develop a novel theoretical basis (interdependent multi-layer network approach) and algorithmic tools for the analysis of survivability of spacecraft and space-based networks. Space-based networks (SBNs) allow the sharing of on-orbit resources, such as data storage, processing, and downlink. Results indicate and quantify the incremental survivability improvement of the SBN over the traditional monolith architecture. A trade-space analysis is then conducted using non-descriptive networkable subsystems/technologies to explore survivability characteristics of space-based networks and help guide design choices.

Space-based telescopes are limit by the payload requirements of existing launch vehicles. Thus, despite distinct advantages the resolution of terrestrial telescopes exceeds space-based telescopes due to larger size and powerful adaptive optics. To overcome payload limitations, a primary mirror technology that is lighter in weight, but no less effective, is required. As this will result in new structural conditions, new approaches to maintaining the optical shape (figure) of the mirror will also be required. This thesis culminates work at the Georgia Institute of Technology in modelling a hexagonal thin-shell deformation mirror manipulated by an adaptive truss. This research specifically examines the feasibility of a surface parallel actuated (SPA) thin-shell CuZr deformable mirror (DM) as an alternative to a typical surface normal actuated (SNA) based mirror. It is believed that by using a thin-shell mirror (100 m or less in thickness) with a light weight substrate, such as a truss, that a significant weight-savings will occur, thus enabling larger space based telescopes. This thesis advances the SPA DM concept by 1) creating a representative model, 2) developing design evaluation methods, 3) evaluating the FEA simulated response of the deformable mirror over Zernike error modes, 4) evaluating the FEA simulated response to select thermal loads, and 5) evaluating the ability of the DM to remove thermal error, and the forces required to do so. Finally, it is concluded that overall the SPA DM concept is feasible.

Le suivi, le contrôle et la surveillance (MCS) des pêches marines sont des problèmes essentiels pour la gestion durable des ressources halieutiques. Dans cette thèse, nous étudions le suivi spatial des activités des navires de pêche en utilisant les données de trajectoire du système de surveillance des navires (VMS) dans le cadre du projet INDESO (2013-2017). Notre objectif général est de développer une chaîne de traitement des données VMS afin de: i) effectuer un suivi de l'effort de pêche des flottilles de palangriers indonésiens, ii) détecter les activités de pêche illégales et évaluer leur importance. L'approche proposée repose sur des modèles de mélange gaussien (GMM) et les modèles de Markov cachés (HMM), en vue d'identifier les comportements élémentaires des navires de pêche, tels que les voyages, la recherche et les activités de pêche, dans un cadre non supervisé. Nous considérons différentes paramétrisations de ces modèles avec une étude particulière des palangriers indonésiens, pour lesquels nous pouvons bénéficier de données d'observateurs embarqués afin de procéder à une évaluation quantitative des modèles proposés et testés.Nous exploitons ensuite ces modèles statistiques pour deux objectifs différents: a) la discrimination des différents flottilles de pêche à partir des trajectoires des navires de pêche et l'application à la détection et à l'évaluation des activités de pêche illégale, b) l'évaluation d'un effort de pêche spatialisé à partir des données VMS. Nous obtenons de très bons taux de reconnaissance (environ 97%) pour la première tâche et nos expériences soutiennent le potentiel d'une exploration opérationnelle de l'approche proposée. En raison du nombre limité de données d'observateurs embarqués, seules des analyses préliminaires on pu être effectuées pour l'estimation de l'effort de pêche à partir des données VMS. Au-delà des développements méthodologiques potentiels, cette thèse met l'accent sur l'importance de la qualité de données d'observation en mer représentatives pour développer davantage l'exploitation des données VMS tant pour la recherche que pour les questions opérationnelles. / Monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) of marine fisheries are critical issues for the sustainable management of marine fisheries. In this thesis we investigate the space-based monitoring of fishing vessel activities using Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) trajectory data in the context of INDESO project (2013-2017). Our general objective is to develop a processing chain of VMS data in order to: i) perform a follow-up of the fishing effort of the Indonesian longline fleets, ii) detect illegal fishing activities and assess their importance. The proposed approach relies on classical latent class models, namely Gaussian Mixture Models (GMM) and Hidden Markov Models (HMM), with a view to identifying elementary fishing vessel behaviors, such as travelling, searching and fishing activities, in a unsupervised framework. Following state-of-the-art approaches, we consider different parameterizations of these models with a specific focus on Indonesian longliners, for which we can benefit from at-sea observers¿ data to proceed to a quantitative evaluation. We then exploit these statistical models for two different objectives: a) the discrimination of different fishing fleets from fishing vessel trajectories and the application to the detection and assessment of illegal fishing activities, b) the assessment of a spatialized fishing effort from VMS data. We report good recognition rate (about 97%) for the former task and our experiments support the potential for an operational exploration of the proposed approach. Due to limited at-sea observers¿ data, only preliminary analyses could be carried out for the proposed VMS-derived fishing effort. Beyond potential methodological developments, this thesis emphasizes the importance of high-quality and representative at-sea observer data for further developing the exploitation of VMS data both for research and operational issues.

Wireless operation, near-field or far-field, is a core functionality of any mobile or autonomous system. These systems are battery operated or most often utilize energy scavenging as a means of power generation. Limited access to power, expected long and uninterrupted operation, and constrained physical parameters (e.g. weight and size), which limit overall power harvesting capabilities, are factors that outline the importance for innovative low-power approaches and designs in advanced low-power wireless applications. Low-power approaches become especially important for the wireless transceiver, the block in charge of wireless/remote functionality of the system, as this block is usually the most power hungry component in an integrated system-on-chip (SoC). Three such advanced applications with stringent power requirements are examined including space-based exploratory remote sensing probes and their associated radiation effects, millimeter-wave phased-array radar for high-altitude tactical and geological imaging, and implantable biomedical devices (IMDs), leading to the proposal and implementation of low-power wireless solutions for these applications in SiGe BiCMOS and CMOS and platforms.