Laboratory experimentation of stereo vision-based relative navigation with unknown spinning spacecraft

In this paper, a vision-based relative navigation strategy applicable for an unknown and spinning target object in space is presented. Specifically, the relative navigation system uses a calibrated stereo monochrome camera, and is developed for estimating the relative position, linear velocity and angular velocity between the inspector spacecraft and the unknown target object, while minimizing the computational requirements. Experimental results in a dark room with a scaled model of a spacecraft spinning about its major axis of rotation are reported to demonstrate the performance and applicability of the navigation system for small inspection spacecraft.