Thermal Characterization of Commercial Time-of-Flight Distance Sensors for Satellite Docking Applications

Time-of-Flight (ToF) distance sensors are widely used in terrestrial environments for a variety of applications, such as industrial automation, proximity sensing, and range finding. Their compactness, simplicity, low power consumption, and affordability have made them attractive candidates for space applications, particularly in microsatellites, where miniaturization of onboard technology and reduced power consumption are key requirements. However, the use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) ToF sensors in space applications remains limited, and it is still unclear how they behave in the temperature range typical of low earth orbit (LEO) missions, which are significantly wider than those commonly tested for terrestrial applications. This work aims to analyze the influence of temperature on the measured distance provided by ToF sensors, assessing whether the thermal effect varies with the target distance. To this end, an experimental setup was developed capable of moving a target plate relative to the sensors assembly; the entire system was placed in a climatic chamber, and measurements were performed at different distances and temperatures for two commercial ToF models. Experimental results indicate that both sensor models are affected by temperature-induced drift, although with different dominant error behaviors, highlighting the importance of dedicated temperature compensation approaches for space-based proximity sensing applications.