ABSTRACT
A solar compass chip is a photosensitive chip with MEMS based optics integrated on the chip itself. The MEMS based optics enables the chip to image the Sun. Image processing of the Sun image is performed externally (typically a processor connected to the solar compass chip). The Sun is observed for a period of time, say half an hour and the angles to the Sun are calculated. During that period of time the Sun will slew across the sky due to the sidereal rate. A circle on the surface of a sphere can be fitted to the arc on the sky that the Sun traverses. The center of this circle is the rotation axis of the Earth. Besides performing the function of a compass, the solar compass chip can be combined with a clock to establish a 3 axis inertial based coordinate system or if the vertical is known, it is able to determine the geographic position. A number of commercial applications in the automotive, agricultural and maritime areas are identified.
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