OMNI System Demonstrated by Redwire
A successful demonstration of the Optical Metrology Network In-situ (OMNI) system under development at Redwire has been completed.
“The potential this technology appears to have for high precision measurements makes it exciting for application to metrology of space structures as well as other missions.”
Andrew Sinclair, Metrology Lead on AFRL’s SSPIDR project.
OMNI is a touchless metrology system designed for large deployable space-born apertures. This metrology system gives the user real-time knowledge of a large object’s shape, even as it distorts from thermal or slewing loads on orbit.
Redwire’s metrology system comprises a set of discrete sensors that can be hard-mounted to the side of a spacecraft with a set of unpowered targets hard-mounted to the surface of interest. Using Redwire’s patented algorithms, the metrology system characterizes the full surface of interest from touchless, invisible measurements. High-accuracy results are returned at fast refresh rates. The metrology system can scale to serve apertures of various shapes with areas of 10m2 to 1000m2.
OMNI System testing done in Conjunction with AFRL
Last October, Redwire engineers successfully completed a live ground technology demonstration of the OMNI system. Hosted by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the test used the OMNI system to measure a prototype of Redwire’s Structurally Combined Aperture with Reticulated Locking Extendible Truss (SCARLET), a deployable structure designed to support large-aperture payloads. For this technology demonstration, the prototype’s surface of interest was 10.5 feet tall and 25 feet long.
“The potential this technology appears to have for high precision measurements makes it exciting for application to metrology of space structures as well as other missions,” said Andrew Sinclair, Metrology Lead on AFRL’s SSPIDR project and Technical Advisor to AFRL’s Spacecraft Component Technology Branch.
Redwire Space is a space infrastructure company focused on accelerating humanity’s expansion into space by delivering reliable, economical, and sustainable infrastructure for future generations. The company's corporate headquarters are in Jacksonville, Florida. Additional operations are located in Florida, New Mexico, California, Indiana, Colorado, Massachusetts, Luxembourg and Belgium.
(Source: Redwire news release. Images provided and from company YouTube video)