Identification of scale factor of a pendulum compensating accelerometer during an orbital spacecraft mission

The paper deals with a crucial task of estimating the metrological characteristics of a pendulum accelerometer which change under the influence of perturbations in the flight of spacecraft. A method is developed that makes it possible to estimate the value of the scale factor of a compensating pendulum accelerometer in the system of spacecraft maneuver control through the use of grapho-analytical and indirect methods of diagnosing first and second order systems. The proposed method makes possible automatic identification of the scale factor in the absence of external forces of non-gravitational origin. The essence of the method is based on the signal-extracting impact on the actuator accelerometer which causes a natural deviation of the sensing element, and the analysis of the transient response of the accelerometer output signal. Numerical studies show that the accuracy of estimating the scale factor in accordance with the proposed method depends on three factors: the output of the measuring noise, the attenuation coefficient of the pendulum accelerometer sensor, and the moments of the external forces acting on the sensitive axis of the accelerometer in the identification process. The results of simulation led to the conclusion about the possibility of applying this method in solving the problem of self-control of the characteristics of a pendulum accelerometer. It is shown that an increase in the accuracy of estimating the scale factor is possible due to the use of statistical methods of smoothing and filtering. Preliminary analysis showed that the proposed method can be implemented in the creation of algorithmic software of the self-control system of smart accelerometers.