Abstract
A space robotic system is expected to perform on-orbit servicing missions to rescue malfunctioned satellites in geostationary orbit (GEO). In final berthing and capture, it is difficult for a space robot to determine the relative pose (attitude and position) of a non-cooperative malfunctioned satellite that is usually huge and without artificial recognition devices. In this paper, a space robot with a monocular structured light vision subsystem is introduced to solve the problem. Firstly, the monocular structured light vision subsystem composed of a single camera and a point light source is designed. Secondly, a partial rectangular shaped framework, which is very common on a non-cooperative malfunctioned satellite, is chosen as the recognition object for non-cooperative pose measurement. Using projection constraints on rectangle and circular points, a rectangle feature reconstruction algorithm is proposed. Thirdly, according to the reconstructed rectangle feature, a least square method of pose determination is presented. Lastly, using a semi-physical vision simulation system, several experiments of typical cases are simulated to verify the pose determination method of large non-cooperative target. The results show the validity and flexibility of the proposed method.
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Recommended by Associate Editor Gon-Woo Kim under the direction of Editor Duk-Sun Shim. This work was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (No. 61305112, 61473297).
Xue-Hai Gao received his Ph.D. in Control Science and Engineering from Harbin Institute of Technology in 2015. His research interests include vision measurement, guidance, navigation and control of spacecraft.
Bin Liang received his Ph.D. in Instrument Science and Engineering from Tsinghua University in 1994. His research interests include space robot, control theory and applications.
Le Pan received her M.S. in Detection Technology and Automatic Equipment from Hefei University of Technology in 2008. Her research interests include image processing, computer simulation.
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Gao, XH., Liang, B., Pan, L. et al. A monocular structured light vision method for pose determination of large non-cooperative satellites. Int. J. Control Autom. Syst. 14, 1535–1549 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12555-014-0546-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12555-014-0546-x