Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulations with Umbra Conditions for Spacecraft Rendezvous with PMD Visual Sensors

Klionovska, Ksenia; Burri, Matthias

doi:10.3390/s21041455

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Li et al use RANSAC in combination with the ICP for robustly rejecting association mismatches and performing model-less tracking of the spacecraft using a SLAM scheme [37]. For a faster nearest neighbor search, Klionovska and Burri apply the ICP in conjunction with the reverse calibration method, meant for the registration of range images provided by ToF sensors such as PMD cameras [5]. Because ToF sensors can deliver very dense point clouds at close range, Sun et al first extract salient points from the scan before performing ICP registration on the reduced point clouds [6].…”

Section: Satellite Pose Tracking Using Range Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…ToF cameras provide a precise and instantaneous depth image of an object, often associated with intensity or RGB information. Yet these cameras have a very limited range with a maximum working distance of around 10 m [4][5][6], so that they have to be used in conjunction with another sensor with a wider working range for complete rendezvous scenarios. In contrast, existing lidar sensors for space can work at distances of several hundred meters up to several kilometers [1,7], so they can also be used to provide distance and direction measurements in mid-range.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Lidar Pose Tracking of a Tumbling Spacecraft Using the Smoothed Normal Distribution Transform

2023

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Lidar sensors enable precise pose estimation of an uncooperative spacecraft in close range. In this context, the iterative closest point (ICP) is usually employed as a tracking method. However, when the size of the point clouds increases, the required computation time of the ICP can become a limiting factor. The normal distribution transform (NDT) is an alternative algorithm which can be more efficient than the ICP, but suffers from robustness issues. In addition, lidar sensors are also subject to motion blur effects when tracking a spacecraft tumbling with a high angular velocity, leading to a loss of precision in the relative pose estimation. This work introduces a smoothed formulation of the NDT to improve the algorithm’s robustness while maintaining its efficiency. Additionally, two strategies are investigated to mitigate the effects of motion blur. The first consists in un-distorting the point cloud, while the second is a continuous-time formulation of the NDT. Hardware-in-the-loop tests at the European Proximity Operations Simulator demonstrate the capability of the proposed methods to precisely track an uncooperative spacecraft under realistic conditions within tens of milliseconds, even when the spacecraft tumbles with a significant angular rate.

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Section: Satellite Pose Tracking Using Range Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lidar Pose Tracking of a Tumbling Spacecraft Using the Smoothed Normal Distribution Transform

2023

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“…In recent years, time-of-flight (TOF) imaging technology has been widely used in ground robot positioning and navigation, pose estimation, 3D reconstruction, indoor games, and other fields due to its advantages in structure and performance. Significantly, researchers are promoting TOF imaging technology in spatial tasks such as spatial pose estimation and relative navigation [1][2][3][4][5][6]. However, due to the particularity of the space environment, it is difficult to obtain the imaging results of the actual TOF camera before formulating the space mission scheme, planning mission content, and designing the related algorithms, so it is impossible to evaluate the algorithm capability and ensure the smooth implementation of the mission [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(1) An improved path tracing algorithm is developed to adapt to the TOF camera by introducing a cosine component to characterize the modulated light in the TOF camera. (2) The background light suppression model is introduced, and the physics-based simulation is realized by considering the BRDF model fitted by the measured data in the near-infrared band of space materials (3) A ground test scene is built, and the correctness of the proposed TOF camera imaging simulation method is verified by quantitative evaluation between the simulated image and measured image.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physics-Based TOF Imaging Simulation for Space Targets Based on Improved Path Tracing

et al. 2022

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Aiming at the application of close-up space measurement based on time-of-flight (TOF) cameras, according to the analysis of the characteristics of the space background environment and the imaging characteristics of the TOF camera, a physics-based amplitude modulated continuous wave (AMCW) TOF camera imaging simulation method for space targets based on the improved path tracing is proposed. Firstly, the microfacet bidirectional reflection distribution function (BRDF) model of several typical space target surface materials is fitted according to the measured BRDF data in the TOF camera response band to make it physics-based. Secondly, an improved path tracing algorithm is developed to adapt to the TOF camera by introducing a cosine component to characterize the modulated light in the TOF camera. Then, the imaging link simulation model considering the coupling effects of the BRDF of materials, the suppression of background illumination (SBI), optical system, detector, electronic equipment, platform vibration, and noise is established, and the simulation images of the TOF camera are obtained. Finally, ground tests are carried out, and the test shows that the relative error of the grey mean, grey variance, depth mean, and depth variance is 2.59%, 3.80%, 18.29%, and 14.58%, respectively; the MSE, SSIM, and PSNR results of our method are also better than those of the reference method. The ground test results verify the correctness of the proposed simulation model, which can provide image data support for the ground test of TOF camera algorithms for space targets.

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“…The HIL method combines the prototype with the mathematical model, which is a semi-physical simulation method, and can be used for the ground experiment of space mechanism [3][4][5][6]. It accurately measures the force of the simulated object in real time, further calculates the motion of the object in zero gravity environment with the help of dynamic model, and then realizes the motion by the robot [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Research on Force Sensing and Zero Gravity Motion Simulation Technology of Industrial Robot

Meng

Zhang

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Towards the zero-gravity simulation test requirements of spacecraft for on-orbit service missions, the zero-gravity motion simulation technology based on industrial robot was studied. In order to realize the accurate force sensing of load on robot, the BP neural network was used to establish the force prediction model. The model uses the robot pose, acceleration, angular velocity, and angular acceleration as input layer parameters, and uses the data from force/torque sensor on robot wrist as the output layer parameter. In order to realize the accurate force perception in whole working space of the robot, the orthogonal experiment design method was adopted to determine the path points of the robot for sample data collection. Based on the established force prediction model, the accurate force sensing of the end load of the robot under moving conditions is realized. In experiment, for the load with 100kg mass on robot, the maximum error of force sensing is 39.8N, and the root mean square error of force sensing is 9.3N. The maximum error of torque sensing is 18.7Nm, and the root mean square error of torque sensing is 4.4Nm. Furthermore, according to the real-time force sensing results of the robot load, the motion speed of the load in zero-gravity state is calculated by dynamics theory. Then the robot is driven to execute the corresponding motion of the load, and the zero gravity motion simulation of the load is realized.

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Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulations with Umbra Conditions for Spacecraft Rendezvous with PMD Visual Sensors

Cited by 8 publications

References 31 publications

Lidar Pose Tracking of a Tumbling Spacecraft Using the Smoothed Normal Distribution Transform

Lidar Pose Tracking of a Tumbling Spacecraft Using the Smoothed Normal Distribution Transform

Physics-Based TOF Imaging Simulation for Space Targets Based on Improved Path Tracing

Research on Force Sensing and Zero Gravity Motion Simulation Technology of Industrial Robot

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