The on-board estimation and tracking of a target Resident Space Object’s (RSO) pose, including its position and orientation, is a crucial technology for enabling various on-orbit servicing and active debris removal operations. These missions rely on real-time data about the target's pose relative to the servicer spacecraft to ensure the safe, autonomous, and efficient execution of rendezvous and docking maneuvers. Using a low Size-Weight-Power-Cost (SWaP-C) sensor, like a monocular camera, to extract pose information from individual or sequential images is particularly appealing compared to more complex systems such as LiDAR or stereovision. The course will cover various aspects essential for achieving real-time pose tracking, including hardware integration, synthetic and laboratory-based image generation and processing, neural network training for pose estimation, and the validation and verification of the system's performance. Students will gain hands-on experience in developing and testing the critical technologies required for autonomous spacecraft operations in real-world scenarios.
In the introductory sessions of this module, the fundamentals of Spacecraft Pose Estimation will be presented, and several topics for the practical project work will be introduced to the students. Each group (with a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 4 students) will work on a single topic. These topics will be discussed further during weekly meetings as follows:
• Students will be provided with literature by the supervisor and will also conduct independent literature review. The results will then be presented to the supervisor.
• The instructor will discuss the concepts for implementing the individual projects in software and/or hardware.
• Students will develop a work plan and implement it. The work will include the development and testing of software and/or hardware components.
• Technical details will be discussed during the weekly meetings.
Students will present their progress in two interim presentations (a preliminary design review and a critical design review) and a final presentation, each lasting 15 minutes followed by a 15-minute discussion. Additionally, they will submit the developed hardware or software solution along with a brief documentation (maximum 20 pages).
In the introductory sessions of this module, the fundamentals of Spacecraft Pose Estimation will be presented, and several topics for the practical project work will be introduced to the students. Each group (with a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 4 students) will work on a single topic. These topics will be discussed further during weekly meetings as follows:
• Students will be provided with literature by the supervisor and will also conduct independent literature review. The results will then be presented to the supervisor.
• The instructor will discuss the concepts for implementing the individual projects in software and/or hardware.
• Students will develop a work plan and implement it. The work will include the development and testing of software and/or hardware components.
• Technical details will be discussed during the weekly meetings.
Students will present their progress in two interim presentations (a preliminary design review and a critical design review) and a final presentation, each lasting 15 minutes followed by a 15-minute discussion. Additionally, they will submit the developed hardware or software solution along with a brief documentation (maximum 20 pages).
- Dozent: Mohamed Khalil Ben Larbi
- Dozent: Markus Huwald