Analysis of the state of the art in the problem of determining the pose of on-orbit service objects

Abstract

Recently considerable attention has been paid to the problem of estimating the pose of an on-orbit service object. Determining the pose at a close distance still remains an open line of research, especially for non-cooperative objects (targets) of on-orbit service. The goal of this work is to overview the state of the art in the problem of determining the relative motion parameters of on-orbit service objects with emphasis on close proximity operations with non-cooperative and unknown targets. The method employed is the analysis of publications devoted to this problem over the last decade. The analysis showed the following. Determining the pose of a non-cooperative orbital object using video systems is a classical approach due to the advantages of light weight and low power consumption. Video camera based pose estimation algorithms usually require prior knowledge of the target features. The main methods of pose estimation still involve approaches based on the recognition and correspondence of image features for consecutive frames or with a target model. Another major approach to pose determination is lidar navigation, where the recognition and correspondence of features based on lidar-derived target surface point clouds are also common methods. Recently, a trend has emerged towards the development of non-feature methods for target pose determination, including unknown targets. The three-dimensional nature of lidar point cloud data is favorable for target pose estimation without any target model. As to the applicability of target pose estimation methods to an unknown target, the implementation of the obvious approach based on constructing a three-dimensional model of the target by processing a series of its images prior to estimating its spatial motion takes a lot of time, which is critical in close proximity operations. The trend in target pose estimation is the development of methods for simultaneous estimation of the pose and shape of an unknown object. In general, the case of an unknown object has not yet been fully investigated.