Precision stabilization simulation of a ball joint gimbaled mirror using advanced MATLAB® techniques

With the increasing use of smart weapons and sensors, there is a need to consider potential areas of improvement that could positively affect large numbers of systems with common concepts and approaches. One area that lends itself to this desire is the improvement of high precision high bandwidth antenna and mirror steering systems that can be utilized across a broad range of sensor systems. Pointing and tracking motions of typical antenna/mirror systems have been accomplished using gimbaled control systems in one or more axes. While these systems generally exhibit high dynamic range, and excellent accuracy and precision, they suffer from the common problems of weight and power requirements, and mechanical envelope constraints. This paper presents techniques and results for the simulation of stabilization characteristics of a joint gimbaled mirror using advanced MATLAB tools and packages.