Abstract
Asteroid exploration is a pertinent challenge due to the varying complexity of their dynamical environments, shape and communication delays due to distance. Thus, autonomous navigation methods are continually being developed and improved in current research to enable their safe exploration. These methods often involve using horizon-based Optical Navigation (OpNav) to determine the spacecraft's location, which is reliant on the visibility of the horizon. It is critical to ensure the reliability of this measurement such that the spacecraft may maintain an accurate state estimate throughout its mission. This paper presents an algorithm that generates control maneuvers for spacecraft to follow trajectories that allow continuously usable optical measurements to maintain system observability for safe navigation. This algorithm improves upon existing asteroid navigation capabilities by allowing the safe and robust autonomous targeting of various trajectories and orbits at a wide range of distances within optical measurement range. It is adaptable to different asteroid scenarios. Overall, the approach develops an all-encompassing system that simulates the asteroid dynamics, synthetic image generation, edge detection, horizon-based OpNav, filtering and observability-enhancing control.
Abstract (translated)
小行星探测面临的一大挑战在于它们动态环境的复杂性、形状各异以及由于距离造成的通信延迟。因此，目前的研究不断开发和改进自主导航方法，以确保安全地进行探测。这些方法通常涉及使用基于地平线的光学导航（OpNav）来确定航天器的位置，这种方法依赖于地平线的可见度。为了保证这一测量的可靠性并使航天器在整个任务期间能够保持准确的状态估计，至关重要的是要开发出一种算法：该算法生成控制指令，以引导航天器沿着允许持续进行光学测量的轨迹行进，从而维持系统的可观测性，实现安全导航。 本文提出了一种算法，它通过设计航天器可以遵循的轨迹来确保连续可用的光学测量数据，进而保持系统可观测性，以实现安全导航。这种算法改进了现有的小行星导航能力，使在广泛的光度测量范围内进行安全且稳健的自主目标定位成为可能，并适用于各种不同的小行星情况。 总的来说，该方法建立了一个全面的系统，模拟小行星的动力学特性、合成图像生成、边缘检测、基于地平线的光学导航、滤波以及增强可观测性的控制策略。
URL
https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.15806
