Theory and Development of a Dynamic HITL Autotrack Evaluation System

Abstract

Telemetry ground antenna tracking performance evaluation and measurement was previously performed by evaluating only the antenna drive system. The integrated nature of software controlled antenna systems has prompted a need to evaluate the entire tracking antenna system, as a whole. Particularly, the ability of an antenna to remain "locked" on a dynamic target must be able to be evaluated and quantified. This paper presents one method for evaluating the tracking ability of a telemetry antenna system and discusses a likely set of metrics to be used as figures of merit for antenna system tracking performance.