Measurement of relative pose between two non-cooperative spacecrafts based on graph cut theory

In final approach of rendezvous between a space robot and a non-cooperative target, due to the light and the folds of heat cladding materials on the target surface, the edge of target cannot be accurately extracted by classic Canny algorithm and we are unable to complete measurement of relative position and attitude. To solve this problem, the measurement method of relative position and attitude between two non-cooperative spacecrafts based on graph cut and edge information algorithm is proposed. A circular feature of the target is chosen as the recognition and measurement object. Firstly, the edge of the circular feature on the target is accurately extracted by graph cut and edge information algorithm. Secondly, the edges are ellipse fitting. Lastly, the relative position and attitude of target is obtained by fitting ellipse parameters of binocular cameras. The simulation results show that the precision of this method is better than Canny algorithm´s and it can better meet the mission requirements.