Rocket Sled Improved Velocity Measuring System Feasibility Study.
Abstract
A study has been performed to determine ways to more accurately measure rocket sled velocity. Extreme accuracies of + or - .0003 meter/sec up to 600 meters/sec (0.001 ft/sec up to 2000 ft/sec) are desired in order to adequately test guidance systems. Measurements are desired every millisecond along the 15 kilometer (10 mile) length of the track. After an extensive search, optical interferometers of 2 types were selected for further study. The first of these looks ahead to a sequence of mirrors mounted next to the track. The second looks vertically down at the rail surface and uses fore and aft scattered light from a laser illuminated spot. An improved version of an existing optical beam break system was also selected as a lower performance, lower cost option. Areas of investigation have been the high levels of vibration on the sled, alignment fluctuations due to sled flexing and yaw, and signal-to-noise ratio including sources, paths and detectors. Other investigations concerned variations in the speed of light, limits of angle resolution and methods of referencing the velocity to a shock mounted guidance package. Experiments are recommended to obtain data on the ambient environments, the sled environment, and several environment controlling and instrumentation techniques. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 10, 1980
- Accession Number
- ADA091634
Entities
People
- Glenn Oliver
- John Hunka
- Kristin Engberg
- R. Douglas Hogg
- Walter Naumann