Angle accuracy assessment of photo-electric tracking system based on star calibration

The measurement accuracy of angle is the most important specification of photo-electronic tracking system. Generally, the calibration tower and azimuth mark are taken as the reference to calibrate the single errors and then synthesize them to the total. However, this method is time-consuming and operation-complicated. A new method based on star calibration was proposed in this paper. The fundamental principle and calibration method were introduced in detail, system error model was established, and calibration accuracy of the new method was analyzed. In addition, taking the photo-electric theodolite as assessment objective, the composition of accuracy assessment system, and the method of the assessment experiment and data processing were studied. The experiment result shows that the new method has benefits of time-saving, operation-simple and high accuracy. The angle calibrated error is less than 3″.