<title>Imaging and tracking elements of the International Space Station using a 3D autosynchronized scanner</title>

Abstract

/npsi/ctrl?action=rtdoc&an=5764234&lang=en http://nparc.cisti-icist.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/npsi/ctrl?action=rtdoc&an=5764234&lang=frAccess and use of this website and the material on it are subject to the Terms and Conditions set forth at http://nparc.cisti-icist.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/npsi/jsp/nparc_cp.jsp?lang=en NRC Publications Archive Archives des publications du CNRC Simulation, and Controls (AeroSense 2002), 4714, 2002 Imaging and Tracking Elements of the International Space Station using a 3D Auto-Synchronized Scanner Samson, C.; English, C.; Deslauriers, A.; Christie, I.; Blais, François Permission is granted to quote short excerpts and to reproduce figures and tables from this report, provided that the source of such material is fully acknowledged. Imaging and tracking elements of the International SpaceStation using a 3D auto-synchronized scanner ABSTRACTThe Neptec Design Group has developed a new 3D auto-synchronized laser scanner for space applications, based on a principle from the National Research Council of Canada. In imaging mode, the Laser Camera System (LCS) raster scans objects and computes high-resolution 3D maps of their surface features. In centroid acquisition mode, the LCS determines the position of discrete target points on an object. The LCS was flight-tested on-board the space shuttle Discovery during mission STS-105 in August 2001. When the shuttle was docked on the International Space Station (ISS), the LCS was used to obtain four high-resolution 3D images of several station elements at ranges from 5 m to 40 m. A comparison of images taken during orbital day and night shows that the LCS is immune to the dynamic lighting conditions encountered on orbit. During the mission, the LCS also tracked a series of retro-reflective and Inconel targets affixed to the Multi-Purpose Lab Module (MPLM), when the module was stationary and moving. Analysis shows that the accuracy of the photosolutions derived from LCS centroid data is comparable to that of the Space Vision System (SVS), Neptec's product presently used by NASA for ISS assembly tasks.

The complementary nature of triangulation and ladar technologies

“…The National Research Council of Canada (NRCC) developed an autosynchronous triangulation system that avoids these problems by using two sides of the same physical mirror to autosynchronize the projected beam and detector without requiring large mirrors or a pan-tilt unit 22,28 . The autosynchronous configuration allows for smaller mirrors and a very narrow iFoV (~3-4º) for maximizing measurement precision while keeping a wide FoR (30º x 40 º) for a large measurement volume.…”

“…The LCS is a flying spot triangulation scanner based on the NRCC autosynchronous design 28 that flew on the shuttle during STS-105 for ISS module tracking and imaging 22,23 . An updated design has been selected for inspection of the shuttle Thermal Protection System for returning the shuttles to flight 25 .…”

<title>Field testing of a 3D automatic target recognition and pose estimation algorithm</title>

“…The 3D models were generated by scanning the target vehicles at close range with Neptec's Laser Camera System (LCS) 3 . The LCS uses laser based autosynchronous triangulation scanning technique 4 to provide highly accurate 3D data at close range (<5m).…”

3D inspection for the Shuttle return to flight

“…A key factor in NASA's selection of the LCS was its successful performance during flight STS-105 as a Detailed Test Objective (DTO) 2 . The LCS design is based on the autosynchronous scanning principle 3 .…”