Export Model Pointing Orientation Values

This article explains how to report on the orientation angles of any movable piece of a 3D model in STK. An example of a movable piece is solar panels on a satellite that are automatically set to track the Sun.

To obtain the orientation information for the solar panels in STK:

1. Create a Model Pointing Vector on the object of interest. An example of an object with movable solar panels is the ISS.mdl satellite.
   1. Open Analysis Workbench from either the STK Tools toolbar or by right-clicking the object of interest in the Object Brower and selecting "Analysis Workbench".
   2. Click the "Create new Vector" icon.
   3. Set the Type to Vector > Model Attachment.
   4. Give the vector a unique name and make sure to select the proper Parent object.
   5. Set the Pointable Element Name to the correct movable piece of the model. In the case of the ISS satellite, it would be the solar panels.
   6. Click OK.
2. Create an Angle from the Model Pointing Vector to the Body Frame.
   1. Click the "Create new Angle" button.
   2. Set the Type to Angle > Between Vectors.
   3. Give the angle a unique name and make sure to select the proper Parent object.
   4. Set the From Vector to the be the newly created Model Pointing vector.
   5. Set the To Vector to be the Body X vector.
   6. Click OK.
3. Repeat step 2 for the Body Y and Body Z vectors to obtain all three orientation values.
4. Create a report to return the angle values.
   1. Open the Report & Graph Manager from either the Data Providers toolbar or by right-clicking the object of interest in the Object Brower and selecting "Report & Graph Manager".
   2. Create a New Report Style and give it a unique name.
   3. On the Report Style Properties page, open the Angles folder and find the newly created angles from Step 2.
   4. Add the Time and Angle data providers for all three angles to the Report Contents.
   5. Click OK.
   6. Click the "Generate" button on the Report & Graph Manager to create the report.

The report will return the Yaw, Pitch, and Roll orientation values for the pointing elements of the models in the body frame, though it could be reported in any reference frame you wish.

This method utilizes STK's Analysis Workbench capability to create custom vectors and angles. For more information, see Analysis Workbench.