An innovative inertial parameters identification method for non-cooperative space targets based on electrostatic interaction

Inertial characteristics of non-cooperative targets are crucial for space capture and sub-sequent on-orbit servicing.Previous methods for identifying inertial parameters involve proximity operations,which are associated with the risk of collision with non-cooperative targets.This paper introduces a long-range,contactless method for identifying the inertial parameters of a non-cooperative target during the pre-capture phase.Specifically,electrostatic interaction is used as an external excitation to alter the target's motion.A force estimation algorithm that uses measure-ments from visual and potential sensors is proposed to estimate the electrostatic interaction and eliminate the need for force sensors.Furthermore,a recursive estimation-identification framework is presented to concurrently estimate the coupled motion state,weak electrostatic interaction,and inertial parameters of the target.The simulation results show that the proposed method extends the identification distance to 170 times that of the previous method while maintaining high identifica-tion precision forall parameters.

Sequential quadratic programming-based non-cooperative target distributed hybrid processing optimization method

The distributed hybrid processing optimization problem of non-cooperative targets is an important research direction for future networked air-defense and anti-missile firepower systems. In this paper, the air-defense anti-missile targets defense problem is abstracted as a nonconvex constrained combinatorial optimization problem with the optimization objective of maximizing the degree of contribution of the processing scheme to non-cooperative targets, and the constraints mainly consider geographical conditions and anti-missile equipment resources. The grid discretization concept is used to partition the defense area into network nodes, and the overall defense strategy scheme is described as a nonlinear programming problem to solve the minimum defense cost within the maximum defense capability of the defense system network. In the solution of the minimum defense cost problem, the processing scheme, equipment coverage capability, constraints and node cost requirements are characterized, then a nonlinear mathematical model of the non-cooperative target distributed hybrid processing optimization problem is established, and a local optimal solution based on the sequential quadratic programming algorithm is constructed, and the optimal firepower processing scheme is given by using the sequential quadratic programming method containing non-convex quadratic equations and inequality constraints. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by simulation examples.

Impedance control of multi-arm space robot for the capture of non-cooperative targets

Robotic systems are expected to play an increasingly important role in future space activities. The robotic on-orbital service, whose key is the capturing technology, becomes a research hot spot in recent years. This paper studies the dynamics modeling and impedance control of a multi-arm free-flying space robotic system capturing a non-cooperative target. Firstly, a control-oriented dynamics model is essential in control algorithm design and code realization. Unlike a numerical algorithm, an analytical approach is suggested. Using a general and a quasi-coordinate Lagrangian formulation, the kinematics and dynamics equations are derived.Then, an impedance control algorithm is developed which allows coordinated control of the multiple manipulators to capture a target.Through enforcing a reference impedance, end-effectors behave like a mass-damper-spring system fixed in inertial space in reaction to any contact force between the capture hands and the target. Meanwhile, the position and the attitude of the base are maintained stably by using gas jet thrusters to work against the manipulators' reaction. Finally, a simulation by using a space robot with two manipulators and a free-floating non-cooperative target is illustrated to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Design of a Non-cooperative Target Capture Mechanism

A passive compliant non-cooperative target capture mechanism is designed to maintain the non-cooperative target on-orbit. When the relative position between capture mechanism and satellite is confirmed,a pair of four-bar linkages lock the docking ring,which is used for connecting the satellite and the rocket. The mathematical model of capture mechanism and capture space is built by the Denavit-Hartenberg(D-H)method,and the torque of each joint is analyzed by the Lagrange dynamic equation. Besides,the capture condition and the torque of every joint under different capture conditions are analyzed by simulation in MSC. Adams. The results indicate that the mechanism can capture the non-cooperative target satellite in a wide range. During the process of capture,the passive compliant mechanism at the bottom can increase capture space,thereby reducing the difficulty and enhance stability of the capture.

Design of a Flexible Capture Mechanism Inspired by Sea Anemone for Non-cooperative Targets

Robotic grippers have been used in industry as end-effectors but are usually limited to operations in pre-defined workspace.However,few devices can capture irregularly shaped dynamic targets in space,underwater and other unstructured environments.In this paper,a novel continuum arm group mechanism inspired by the morphology and motions of sea anemones is proposed.It is able to dissipate and absorb the kinetic energy of a fast moving target in omni-direction and utilize multiple arms to wrap and lock the target without accurate positioning control.Wire-driven actuation systems are implemented in the individual continuum arms,achieving both bending motion and stiffness regulation.Through finite element method,the influence of different configurations of the continuum arm group on the capture performance is analyzed.A robotic prototype is constructed and tested,showing the presented arm group mechanism has high adaptability to capture targets with different sizes,shapes,and incident angles.

Non-cooperative target pose estimation based on improved iterative closest point algorithm

For localisation of unknown non-cooperative targets in space,the existence of interference points causes inaccuracy of pose estimation while utilizing point cloud registration.To address this issue,this paper proposes a new iterative closest point(ICP)algorithm combined with distributed weights to intensify the dependability and robustness of the non-cooperative target localisation.As interference points in space have not yet been extensively studied,we classify them into two broad categories,far interference points and near interference points.For the former,the statistical outlier elimination algorithm is employed.For the latter,the Gaussian distributed weights,simultaneously valuing with the variation of the Euclidean distance from each point to the centroid,are commingled to the traditional ICP algorithm.In each iteration,the weight matrix W in connection with the overall localisation is obtained,and the singular value decomposition is adopted to accomplish high-precision estimation of the target pose.Finally,the experiments are implemented by shooting the satellite model and setting the position of interference points.The outcomes suggest that the proposed algorithm can effectively suppress interference points and enhance the accuracy of non-cooperative target pose estimation.When the interference point number reaches about 700,the average error of angle is superior to 0.88°.

A modified OMP method for multi-orbit three dimensional ISAR imaging of the space target

The conventional two dimensional(2D)inverse synthetic aperture radar(ISAR)imaging fails to provide the targets'three dimensional(3D)information.In this paper,a 3D ISAR imaging method for the space target is proposed based on mutliorbit observation data and an improved orthogonal matching pursuit(OMP)algorithm.Firstly,the 3D scattered field data is converted into a set of 2D matrix by stacking slices of the 3D data along the elevation direction dimension.Then,an improved OMP algorithm is applied to recover the space target's amplitude information via the 2D matrix data.Finally,scattering centers can be reconstructed with specific three dimensional locations.Numerical simulations are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed 3D imaging method.

Contact detumbling toward a nutating target through deformable effectors and prescribed performance controller

Detumbling operation toward a rotating target with nutation is meaningful for debris removal but challenging. In this study, a deformable end-effector is first designed based on the requirements for contacting the nutating target. A dual-arm robotic system installed with the deformable end-effectors is modeled and the movement of the end-tips is analyzed. The complex operation of the contact toward a nutating target places strict requirements on control accuracy and controller robustness. Thus, an improvement of the tracking error transformation is proposed and an adaptive sliding mode controller with prescribed performance is designed to guarantee the fast and precise motion of the effector during the contact detumbling.Finally, by employing the proposed effector and the controller,numerical simulations are carried out to verify the effectiveness and efficiency of the contact detumbling toward a nutating target.

A Method to Obtain the Moving Speed of Uncooperative Target Based on Only Two Measurements

The existing research results show that a fixed single station must conduct three consecutive frequency shift measurements and obtain the target’s moving speed by constructing two frequency difference equations. This article proposes a new method that requires only two consecutive measurements. While using the azimuth measurement to obtain the angular difference between two radial distances, it also conducts two consecutive Doppler frequency shift measurements at the same target azimuth. On the basis of this measurement, a frequency difference equation is first constructed and solved jointly with the Doppler frequency shift equation. By eliminating the velocity variable and using the measured angular difference to obtain the target’s lead angle, the target’s velocity can be solved by using the Doppler frequency shift equation again. The new method avoids the condition that the target must move equidistantly, which not only provides an achievable method for engineering applications but also lays a good foundation for further exploring the use of steady-state signals to achieve passive positioning.

Analytic optimal pose tracking control in close-range proximity operations with a non-cooperative target

This paper investigates an analytical optimal pose tracking control problem for chaser spacecraft during the close-range proximity operations with a non-cooperative space target subject to attitude tumbling and unknown orbital maneuvering.Firstly,the relative translational motion between the orbital target and the chaser spacecraft is described in the Line-of-Sight(LOS)coordinate frame along with attitude quaternion dynamics.Then,based on the coupled 6-Degree of Freedom(DOF)pose dynamic model,an analytical optimal control action consisting of constrained optimal control value,application time and its duration are proposed via exploring the iterative sequential action control algorithm.Meanwhile,the global closed-loop asymptotic stability of the proposed predictive control action is presented and discussed.Compared with traditional proximity control schemes,the highlighting advantages are that the application time and duration of the devised controller is applied discretely in light of the influence of the instantaneous pose configuration on the pose tracking performance with less energy consumptions rather than at each sample time.Finally,three groups of illustrative examples are organized to validate the effectiveness of the proposed analytical optimal pose tracking control scheme.

Research on spatial-variant property of bistatic ISAR imaging plane of space target

The imaging plane of inverse synthetic aperture radar （ISAR） is the projection plane of the target. When taking an image using the range-Doppler theory, the imaging plane may have a spatial-variant property, which causes the change of scatter＇s projection position and results in migration through resolution cells, In this study, we focus on the spatial-variant property of the imaging plane of a three-axis-stabilized space target. The innovative contributions are as follows. 1） The target motion model in orbit is provided based on a two-body model. 2） The instantaneous imaging plane is determined by the method of vector analysis. 3） Three Euler angles are introduced to describe the spatial-variant property of the imaging plane, and the image quality is analyzed. The simulation results confirm the analysis of the spatial-variant property. The research in this study is significant for the selection of the imaging segment, and provides the evidence for the following data processing and compensation algorithm.

Damage of multi-layer spaced metallic target plates impacted by radial layered PELE

Three different kinds of PELE(the penetrator with lateral efficiency) were launched by ballistic artillery to impact the multi-layer spaced metal target plates.The lmpact velocities of the projectiles were measured by the velocity measuring system.The damage degree and process of each laye r of target plate impacted by the three kinds of projectiles were analyzed.The experimental results show that all the three kinds of projectiles have the effect of expanding holes on the multi-layer spaced metal target plates.For the normal structure PELE(without layered) with tungsten alloy jacket and the radial layered PELE with tungsten alloy jacket,the diameters of holes on the seco nd layer of plates are 3.36 times and 3.76 times of the diameter of the projectile,re spectively.For radial layered PELE with W/Zr-based amorphous composite jacket,due to the large number of tungsten wires dispersed after the impact,the diameter of the holes on the four-layer spaced plates can reach 2.4 times,3.04 times,5.36 times and 2.68 times of the diameter of the projectile.Besides,the normal structure PELE with tungsten alloy jacket and the radial layered PELE whit tungsten alloy jacket formed a large number of fragments impact marks on the third target plate.Although the number of fragments penetrating the third target plate is not as large as that of the normal structure PELE,the area of dispersion of fragments impact craters on the third target plate is larger by the radial layered PELE.The radial layered PELE with W/Zr-based amorphous composite jacket released a lot of heat energy due to the impact of the matrix material,and formed a large area of ablation marks on the last three target plates.

Ultra-lightweight CNN design based on neural architecture search and knowledge distillation: A novel method to build the automatic recognition model of space target ISAR images

In this paper,a novel method of ultra-lightweight convolution neural network(CNN)design based on neural architecture search(NAS)and knowledge distillation(KD)is proposed.It can realize the automatic construction of the space target inverse synthetic aperture radar(ISAR)image recognition model with ultra-lightweight and high accuracy.This method introduces the NAS method into the radar image recognition for the first time,which solves the time-consuming and labor-consuming problems in the artificial design of the space target ISAR image automatic recognition model(STIIARM).On this basis,the NAS model’s knowledge is transferred to the student model with lower computational complexity by the flow of the solution procedure(FSP)distillation method.Thus,the decline of recognition accuracy caused by the direct compression of model structural parameters can be effectively avoided,and the ultralightweight STIIARM can be obtained.In the method,the Inverted Linear Bottleneck(ILB)and Inverted Residual Block(IRB)are firstly taken as each block’s basic structure in CNN.And the expansion ratio,output filter size,number of IRBs,and convolution kernel size are set as the search parameters to construct a hierarchical decomposition search space.Then,the recognition accuracy and computational complexity are taken as the objective function and constraint conditions,respectively,and the global optimization model of the CNN architecture search is established.Next,the simulated annealing(SA)algorithm is used as the search strategy to search out the lightweight and high accuracy STIIARM directly.After that,based on the three principles of similar block structure,the same corresponding channel number,and the minimum computational complexity,the more lightweight student model is designed,and the FSP matrix pairing between the NAS model and student model is completed.Finally,by minimizing the loss between the FSP matrix pairs of the NAS model and student model,the student model’s weight adjustment is completed.Thus the ultra-lightweight and high accuracy STIIARM is obtained.The proposed method’s effectiveness is verified by the simulation experiments on the ISAR image dataset of five types of space targets.

Test research on IR radiation characteristics control of space target using cryogenic vacuum multilayer insulation film structure

In order to achieve the objective of controlling IR radiation characteristics of space target,we design multilayer insulation film structure to cover the target.In space environment the structure comes to cryogenic vacuum multilayer insulation film structure.It can quickly lower the surface temperature of space target,approaching to the ultra-low temperature of the space environment.A vacuum simulation verification test was designed and performed.Through the analysis of test results,we can see that the surface temperature of space target covered by the structure changes with the ambient temperature,having no direct relationship with internal temperature of the target.Therefore,the designed cryogenic vacuum multilayer insulation film structure has excellent IR radiation control performance.It can reduce the target’s IR radiation intensity so as to reduce the probability of detection by IR detectors.

Unified Modeling Approach of Kinematics, Dynamics and Control of a Free-Flying Space Robot Interacting with a Target Satellite

In this paper a unified control-oriented modeling approach is proposed to deal with the kinematics, linear and angular momentum, contact constraints and dynamics of a free-flying space robot interacting with a target satellite. This developed approach combines the dynamics of both systems in one structure along with holonomic and nonholonomic constraints in a single framework. Furthermore, this modeling allows consid-ering the generalized contact forces between the space robot end-effecter and the target satellite as internal forces rather than external forces. As a result of this approach, linear and angular momentum will form holonomic and nonholonomic constraints, respectively. Meanwhile, restricting the motion of the space robot end-effector on the surface of the target satellite will impose geometric constraints. The proposed momentum of the combined system under consideration is a generalization of the momentum model of a free-flying space robot. Based on this unified model, three reduced models are developed. The first reduced dynamics can be considered as a generalization of a free-flying robot without contact with a target satellite. In this re-duced model it is found that the Jacobian and inertia matrices can be considered as an extension of those of a free-flying space robot. Since control of the base attitude rather than its translation is preferred in certain cases, a second reduced model is obtained by eliminating the base linear motion dynamics. For the purpose of the controller development, a third reduced-order dynamical model is then obtained by finding a common solution of all constraints using the concept of orthogonal projection matrices. The objective of this approach is to design a controller to track motion trajectory while regulating the force interaction between the space robot and the target satellite. Many space missions can benefit from such a modeling system, for example, autonomous docking of satellites, rescuing satellites, and satellite servicing, where it is vital to limit the con-tact force during the robotic operation. Moreover, Inverse dynamics and adaptive inverse dynamics control-lers are designed to achieve the control objectives. Both controllers are found to be effective to meet the specifications and to overcome the un-actuation of the target satellite. Finally, simulation is demonstrated by to verify the analytical results.

A grasp planning algorithm under uneven contact point distribution scenario for space non-cooperative target capture

The contact point configuration should be carefully chosen to ensure a stable capture,especially for the non-cooperative target capture mission using multi-armed spacecraft.In this work scenario,the contact points on the base and on the arms are distributed on the opposite side of the target.Otherwise,large forces will be needed.To cope with this problem,an uneven-oriented distribution union criterion is proposed.The union criterion contains a virtual symmetrical criterion and a geometry criterion.The virtual symmetrical contact point criterion is derived from the proof of the force closure principle using computational geometry to ensure a stable grasp,and the geometry criterion is calculated by the volume of the minimum polyhedron formed by the contact points to get a wide-range distribution.To further accelerate the optimization rate and enhance the global search ability,a line array modeling method and a continuous-discrete global search algorithm are proposed.The line array modeling method reduces the workload of calculating the descent direction and the gradient available,while the continuous-discrete global search algorithm reducing the optimization dimension.Then a highly efficient grasping is achieved and the corresponding contact point is calculated.Finally,an exhaustive verification is conducted to numerically analyze the disturbance resistance ability,and simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms.

High resolution inverse synthetic aperture radar imaging of three-axis-stabilized space target by exploiting orbital and sparse priors

The development of inverse synthetic aperture radar （ISAR） imaging techniques is of notable significance for moni- toring, tracking and identifying space targets in orbit. Usually, a well-focused ISAR image of a space target can be obtained in a deliberately selected imaging segment in which the target moves with only uniform planar rotation. However, in some imaging segments, the nonlinear range migration through resolution cells （MTRCs） and time-varying Doppler caused by the three-dimensional rotation of the target would degrade the ISAR imaging performance, and it is troublesome to realize accurate motion compensation with conventional methods. Especially in the case of low signal-to-noise ratio （SNR）, the estimation of motion parameters is more difficult. In this paper, a novel algorithm for high-resolution ISAR imaging of a space target by using its precise ephemeris and orbital motion model is proposed. The innovative contributions are as follows. 1） The change of a scatterer projection position is described with the spatial-variant angles of imaging plane calculated based on the orbital motion model of the three-axis-stabilized space target. 2） A correction method of MTRC in slant- and cross-range dimensions for arbitrarily imaging segment is proposed. 3） Coarse compensation for translational motion using the precise ephemeris and the fine compensation for residual phase errors by using sparsity-driven autofo- cus method are introduced to achieve a high-resolution ISAR image. Simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Evaluation of Trajectory Error Effects in BP Based Space Target ISAR Imaging

The space target imaging is important in the development of space technology.Due to the availability of trajectory information of the space targets and the arising of rapid parallel processing hardware,the back projection (BP) method has been applied to synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging and shows a number of advantages as compared with conventional Fourier-domain imaging algorithms.However,the practical processing shows that the insufficient accuracy of the trajectory information results in the degrading of the imaging results.On the other hand,the autofocusing algorithms for BP imaging are not well developed,which is a bottleneck for the application of BP imaging.Here,an analysis of the effect of trajectory errors on the space target imaging using microlocal technology is presented.Our analysis provides an explicit quantitative relationship between the trajectory errors of the space target and the positioning errors in the reconstructed images.The explicit form of the position errors for some typical trajectory errors is also presented.Numerical simulations demonstrate our theoretical findings.The measured position errors obtained from the reconstructed images are consistent with the analytic errors calculated by using the derived formulas.Our results will be used in the development of effective autofocusing methods for BP imaging.

Multi-objective Evolutionary Algorithm Based on Target Space Partitioning Method

Considering the defects of conventional optimization methods, a novel optimization algorithm is introduced in this paper. Target space partitioning method is used in this algorithm to solve multi-objective optimization problem, thus achieve the coherent solution which can meet the requirements of all target functions, and improve the population's overall evolution level. The algorithm which guarantees diversity preservation and fast convergence to the Pareto set is applied to structural optimization problems. The empirical analysis supports the algorithm and gives an example with program.

Pose Estimation of Space Targets Based on Model Matching for Large-Aperture Ground-Based Telescopes

With the development of adaptive optics and post restore processing techniques,large aperture ground-based telescopes can obtain high-resolution images(HRIs)of targets.The pose of the space target can be estimated from HRIs by several methods.As the target features obtained from the image are unstable,it is difficult to use existing methods for pose estimation.In this paper a method based on real-time target model matching to estimate the pose of space targets is proposed.First,the physicallyconstrained iterative deconvolution algorithm is used to obtain HRIs of the space target.Second,according to the 3D model,the ephemeris data,the observation time of the target,and the optical parameters of the telescope,the simulated observation image of the target in orbit is rendered by a scene simulation program.Finally,the target model searches through yaw,pitch,and roll until the correlation between the simulated observation image and the actual observation image shows an optimal match.The simulation results show that the proposed pose estimation method can converge to the local optimal value with an estimation error of about 1.6349°.