Turning orbitdeterminator into a robust, reliable tool

As a GSoC project, I will continue the work done on orbitdeterminator, so that we turn it into a robust, reliable tool, suitable for orbit determination of satellite, spacecraft and Solar System small-bodies. As part of a comprehensible test suite for orbitdeterminator, I will take data from JPL's radar astrometry database as well as Minor Planet Center's optical database in order to test orbitdeterminator output vs known orbits computed from radar and optical observations.

The specific goals I will pursue during GSoC 2018 are:

• Turn orbitdeterminator into a robust tool for orbit fitting, taking into account relevant physical effects into orbit model (e.g., non-gravitational accelerations).
• Add interpolation features.
• Add a test suite, with varied and meaningful test scenarios, as well as having continuous integration (CI) and code coverage online tools working for the GitHub repo.
• Test orbitdeterminator for Solar System small-bodies such as NEAs, taking raw data from JPL's radar astrometry and Minor Planet Center's optical data, and then comparing output to other solutions for NEAs.

Bonus:

• Design and implement an elementary multi-sensor multi-target system for the DGSN system.