Rendezvous-guidance based robotic interception

Abstract

A novel rendezvous-guidance algorithm is proposed in this paper for the robotic interception of moving objects. The object is assumed to be moving on an a priori unknown trajectory, though, its instantaneous state is visually observed and fed to the proposed algorithm. The output of the guidance algorithm is an instantaneous end-effector velocity command with the largest possible closing velocity component while not violating the rendezvous criteria and the dynamic limitations of the actuators of the robot. The proposed method reduces the interception-times achieved via conventional tracking methods as demonstrated by simulation examples.