Optical system for proximity operations in aerospace

Yong-Liang Zhang; Xiao-Chun Liu; Huan-Zhang Lu

doi:10.1117/12.805554

2 February 2009 Optical system for proximity operations in aerospace

Yong-Liang Zhang, Xiao-Chun Liu, Huan-Zhang Lu

Proceedings Volume 7157, 2008 International Conference on Optical Instruments and Technology: Advanced Sensor Technologies and Applications; 71570P (2009) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.805554
Event: International Conference of Optical Instrument and Technology, 2008, Beijing, China

Abstract

Satellite serving offers a potential for extending the life of satellites and reducing launching and operating costs. Proximity operations are necessary for purpose of satellite serving. As the primary measurement system, optical system can provide the information of relative navigation in near field. The paper has two main contributions. Firstly, we summarize use of optical systems for guidance and navigation in the missions of proximity operations in aerospace. Their characteristics vary from the manned missions, which are performed by astronauts on-orbit, through semi-autonomous missions, wherein human operators on the ground segment issue high level directives and sensor-guided systems on the space segment guide the execution, to the full-autonomous missions, which are executed using unmanned space robotic systems. It comes to light that future space operations will be more autonomous. Secondly, we present a concept and framework of a vision system for satellite proximity operations, which is semi-autonomous and can treat with uncooperative satellites. The vision system uses visible and infrared sensors synchronously to acquire images, which solves the problem of data integrity introduced by ambient illumination and direct sunlight for visible sensor. The vision system uses natural features on the satellite surfaces instead of artificial markers for its operation, computes relative motion and structure of the target, and tracks features in image sequences. Selected algorithms of the system have been characterized in ground environment; they are undergoing systematic sets of adaptation for space.

Citation Download Citation

Yong-Liang Zhang, Xiao-Chun Liu, and Huan-Zhang Lu "Optical system for proximity operations in aerospace", Proc. SPIE 7157, 2008 International Conference on Optical Instruments and Technology: Advanced Sensor Technologies and Applications, 71570P (2 February 2009); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.805554

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available

Members: $17.00

Non-members: $21.00 ADD TO CART

PROCEEDINGS
9 PAGES

DOWNLOAD PAPER SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

GET CITATION

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Get copyright permission Get copyright permission on Copyright Marketplace

KEYWORDS

Satellites

Sensors

Space operations

Navigation systems

3D modeling

Cameras

Visual process modeling

Show All Keywords

Keywords/Phrases

Search In:

Publication Years