Abstract:
We describe the development and implementation of a light-weight, fully autonomous 2-axis pointing
and stabilization system designed for balloon-borne astronomical payloads. The system is developed using offthe-shelf components such as Arduino Uno controller, HMC 5883L magnetometer, MPU-9150 inertial measurement unit, and iWave GPS receiver unit. It is a compact and rugged system which can also be used to take
images/video in a moving vehicle or in real photography. The system performance is evaluated from the ground,
as well as in conditions simulated to imitate the actual flight by using a tethered launch.
