The TinyV3RSE Hardware-in-the-Loop Vision-Based Navigation Facility
The increase in number of interplanetary probes has emphasized the need for spacecraft autonomy to reduce overall mission costs and to enable riskier operations without ground support. The perception of the external environment is a critical task for autonomous probes, being fundamental for both mot...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Sensors |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/22/23/9333 |
| _version_ | 1797462138133938176 |
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| author | Paolo Panicucci Francesco Topputo |
| author_facet | Paolo Panicucci Francesco Topputo |
| author_sort | Paolo Panicucci |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The increase in number of interplanetary probes has emphasized the need for spacecraft autonomy to reduce overall mission costs and to enable riskier operations without ground support. The perception of the external environment is a critical task for autonomous probes, being fundamental for both motion planning and actuation. Perception is often achieved using navigation sensors which provide measurements of the external environment. For space exploration purposes, cameras are among the sensors that provide navigation information with few constraints at the spacecraft system level. Image processing and vision-based navigation algorithms are exploited to extract information about the external environment and the probe’s position within it from images. It is thus crucial to have the capability to generate realistic image datasets to design, validate, and test autonomous algorithms. This goal is achieved with high-fidelity rendering engines and with hardware-in-the-loop simulations. This work focuses on the latter by presenting a facility developed and used at the Deep-space Astrodynamics Research and Technology (DART) Laboratory at Politecnico di Milano. First, the facility design relationships are established to select hardware components. The critical design parameters of the camera, lens system, and screen are identified and analytical relationships are developed among these parameters. Second, the performances achievable with the chosen components are analytically and numerically studied in terms of geometrical accuracy and optical distortions. Third, the calibration procedures compensating for hardware misalignment and errors are defined. Their performances are evaluated in a laboratory experiment to display the calibration quality. Finally, the facility applicability is demonstrated by testing imageprocessing algorithms for space exploration scenarios. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:32:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c685b1a0028b43b9becc43b7e2c00828 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:32:13Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-c685b1a0028b43b9becc43b7e2c008282023-11-24T12:12:25ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202022-11-012223933310.3390/s22239333The TinyV3RSE Hardware-in-the-Loop Vision-Based Navigation FacilityPaolo Panicucci0Francesco Topputo1Department of Aerospace Science and Technology, Politecnico di Milano, Via Giuseppe La Masa, 34, 20156 Milano, ItalyDepartment of Aerospace Science and Technology, Politecnico di Milano, Via Giuseppe La Masa, 34, 20156 Milano, ItalyThe increase in number of interplanetary probes has emphasized the need for spacecraft autonomy to reduce overall mission costs and to enable riskier operations without ground support. The perception of the external environment is a critical task for autonomous probes, being fundamental for both motion planning and actuation. Perception is often achieved using navigation sensors which provide measurements of the external environment. For space exploration purposes, cameras are among the sensors that provide navigation information with few constraints at the spacecraft system level. Image processing and vision-based navigation algorithms are exploited to extract information about the external environment and the probe’s position within it from images. It is thus crucial to have the capability to generate realistic image datasets to design, validate, and test autonomous algorithms. This goal is achieved with high-fidelity rendering engines and with hardware-in-the-loop simulations. This work focuses on the latter by presenting a facility developed and used at the Deep-space Astrodynamics Research and Technology (DART) Laboratory at Politecnico di Milano. First, the facility design relationships are established to select hardware components. The critical design parameters of the camera, lens system, and screen are identified and analytical relationships are developed among these parameters. Second, the performances achievable with the chosen components are analytically and numerically studied in terms of geometrical accuracy and optical distortions. Third, the calibration procedures compensating for hardware misalignment and errors are defined. Their performances are evaluated in a laboratory experiment to display the calibration quality. Finally, the facility applicability is demonstrated by testing imageprocessing algorithms for space exploration scenarios.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/22/23/9333optical camera testingvision-based navigationhardware-in-the-loop simulationsoptical test benchverification and validation |
| spellingShingle | Paolo Panicucci Francesco Topputo The TinyV3RSE Hardware-in-the-Loop Vision-Based Navigation Facility Sensors optical camera testing vision-based navigation hardware-in-the-loop simulations optical test bench verification and validation |
| title | The TinyV3RSE Hardware-in-the-Loop Vision-Based Navigation Facility |
| title_full | The TinyV3RSE Hardware-in-the-Loop Vision-Based Navigation Facility |
| title_fullStr | The TinyV3RSE Hardware-in-the-Loop Vision-Based Navigation Facility |
| title_full_unstemmed | The TinyV3RSE Hardware-in-the-Loop Vision-Based Navigation Facility |
| title_short | The TinyV3RSE Hardware-in-the-Loop Vision-Based Navigation Facility |
| title_sort | tinyv3rse hardware in the loop vision based navigation facility |
| topic | optical camera testing vision-based navigation hardware-in-the-loop simulations optical test bench verification and validation |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/22/23/9333 |
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