Laboratory Experimentation of Autonomous Spacecraft Docking Using Cooperative Vision Navigation

摘要

On-orbit, autonomous docking and spacecraft servicing are key areas of research in the defense and civil space communities. This thesis contributes to that effort by developing portions of a testbed and an experimental docking vehicle at the Spacecraft Robotics Laboratory of the Naval Postgraduate School. The testbed was advanced by incorporating a large, flat epoxy surface and an indoor-GPS system into the laboratory framework. The epoxy floor allows a vehicle to emulate the space environment by floating on a nearfrictionless surface representing motion in two dimensions. Pseudo-GPS was integrated into the testbed to allow for independent verification and validation of a vehicle s performance. The docking simulator was developed by integrating computer hardware and attitude sensors into a newly-designed vehicle architecture to support its navigation and control needs. A position and attitude estimator was created to fuse the vehicle s sensor inputs. A control system was designed to allow for position control through eight thrusters and attitude control through the use of a reaction wheel. Finally, experiments of proximity navigation were conducted. One experiment established the versatility of the vehicle s control system by performing a closed loop maneuver. A second experiment successfully demonstrated a complete docking scenario.