Autonomous orbital rendezvous using angles-only navigation

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2001.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Chari, Raja Jon Vurputoor, 1977-
Other Authors: David K. Geller.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2005
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8716
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author Chari, Raja Jon Vurputoor, 1977-
author2 David K. Geller.
author_facet David K. Geller.
Chari, Raja Jon Vurputoor, 1977-
author_sort Chari, Raja Jon Vurputoor, 1977-
collection MIT
description Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2001.
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spelling mit-1721.1/87162019-04-10T12:10:38Z Autonomous orbital rendezvous using angles-only navigation Chari, Raja Jon Vurputoor, 1977- David K. Geller. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Aeronautics and Astronautics. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2001. Includes bibliographical references (p. 193-195). This study assesses navigation performance for rendezvous and close approach applications where on-board navigation must be accomplished through the use of angles-only measurements by developing various relative motion orbital trajectories. Chaser vehicle maneuvers designed to enhance the estimator's observability of the downrange distance to the target are considered. The target vehicle is assumed to be non-maneuvering and in a near-circular orbit. The modeled system includes representative scenarios from the Orbital Express mission. Although a wide array of angle measurement sensors are available, their use in orbital rendezvous is generally limited by the fact that they are unable to provide direct target ranging information which leads to significant downrange error accumulation in the navigation filter. These navigation problems inherent to angles-only measurements in a natural motion environment are first qualitatively studied both analytically and through linear covariance modeling. It is shown that different target-chaser geometries lead to different navigation uncertainties in target downrange distance. The conclusions drawn from considering natural motion geometries are used to study candidate maneuver-assisted trajectories. The results from this study are used to select and combine the most promising maneuver-assisted trajectories for more in-depth consideration as potential scenarios for the Orbital Express mission. These selected trajectories are then analyzed in depth to determine the interdependency of range observability using angles-only navigation with angular sensor quality, inertial measurement accuracy, attitude determination accuracy, and trajectory design. Using the Orbital Express mission as a baseline, maneuver-assisted trajectories for angles-only navigation are tested with realistic error models to validate the rules of thumb created for improved angles-only navigation even in the presence of biases, misalignments, and degraded sensors. The results show that using well-chosen trajectories leads to navigation error uncertainties acceptable for rendezvous applications when only angular measurements are available. by Raja Jon Vurputoor Chari. S.M. 2005-08-23T22:36:02Z 2005-08-23T22:36:02Z 2001 2001 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8716 49875926 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 195 p. 13405171 bytes 13404930 bytes application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Chari, Raja Jon Vurputoor, 1977-
Autonomous orbital rendezvous using angles-only navigation
title Autonomous orbital rendezvous using angles-only navigation
title_full Autonomous orbital rendezvous using angles-only navigation
title_fullStr Autonomous orbital rendezvous using angles-only navigation
title_full_unstemmed Autonomous orbital rendezvous using angles-only navigation
title_short Autonomous orbital rendezvous using angles-only navigation
title_sort autonomous orbital rendezvous using angles only navigation
topic Aeronautics and Astronautics.
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8716
work_keys_str_mv AT charirajajonvurputoor1977 autonomousorbitalrendezvoususinganglesonlynavigation