On-the-ground experiments of autonomous spacecraft proximity-navigation using computer vision and jet actuators

This paper presents the current status of the research effort on autonomous proximity-navigation and spacecraft docking, which is on-going at the Spacecraft Servicing and Robotics Laboratory of the Naval Postgraduate School. An experimental test-bed has been designed and is in the advance integration phase, which can be used for validating analytical and numerical results regarding dynamic models and control laws. The test-bed consists of two spacecraft models floating via air-pads on a flat surface to simulate in two dimensions the weightlessness of the orbital flight. A custom-developed vision navigation sensor is used to determine the relative position and orientation of the two spacecraft. This paper presents an overall description of the test-bed and reports the preliminary experimental results of autonomous navigation of the chaser-spacecraft model in the proximity of the target spacecraft