Responsible	Samuel Schoenenberger
Last Updated	10/12/2025, 12:48:54 PM
Last Author	Kai Berszin

Coarse Sun Sensor

Scope

This page describes the hardware properties and the mathematical description of the functionality of Coarse Sun Sensors.

Hardware

The coarse sun sensors are built into the solar panels.

Mathematical Description

A coarse sun sensor is a sensor that returns the angle of incidence $\theta_{css}$ of the sun vector $s$. So the angle between the sun vector, a unit vector that points toward the sun and the surface normal of the the surface $n$, on which the sensor is placed. $\theta = \arccos{\frac{< s , n >}{||s|| ||n||}}$ It is important to note, that $s$ and $n$ have to be in the same coordinate frame.