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.

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.

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°.

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.

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.

A High Speed Detection Scheme for Point Targets in a Multitarget Environment

The purpose of this paper is to develop a high speed detection scheme for moving and / or stationary point targets in a multitarget environment as registered in an IR image sequence. An iterative approximate 3-D line searching algorithm based upon the geometric representation of lines (for non-maneuvering targets in space) in a 3-D space is derived. The convergency of the algorithm is proved. An analysis is performed of the theoretical detection performance of the algorithm. The statistical experiment results show high effectiveness and computational efficiency of the algorithm in the case of low SNR. The idea may be employed to satisfy the real-time processing requirement of an IR system.

A Novel Generalized Nonholonomy Criteria and Physical Interpretation of Holonomic/Nonholonomic Constraints of a Free-Flying Space Robot with/without Interaction with a Flying Target Satellite

This paper presents a new nonholonomy criteria and reveals the physical interpretation of holonomoic and nonholonomic constraints acting on a free-flying space robot with or without interaction with a free Flying/Floating target object. The analysis in this paper interprets the physical interpretation behind such constraints, and clarifies geometric and kinematic conditions that generate such constraints. Moreover, a new criterion of finding the holonomy/nonholonomy of constraints impose on a free-flying space robot with or without interaction with a floating object is presented as well. The proposed criteria are applicable in case of zero or non-zero initial momentum conditions. Such nonholonomy criteria are proposed by utilizing the concept of orthogonal projection matrices and singular value decomposition (SVD). Using this methodology will also enable us to verify online whether the constraints are violated in case of real-time applications and to take a correction action or switch the controllers. This criterion is still yet valid even the interaction with floating object is lost. Applications of the proposed criteria can be dedicated to in-orbit servicing robotic satellite to capture malfunctioned spacecrafts and satellites, docking space of NASA and Russian shuttles with International Space Station (ISA), building in-orbit stations, space rescue missions and asteroids dust sampling. Finally, simulation results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed criterion.

Adaptive Sampling for Near Space Hypersonic Gliding Target Tracking

For modern phased array radar systems,the adaptive control of the target revisiting time is important for efficient radar resource allocation,especially in maneuvering target tracking applications.This paper presents a novel interactive multiple model(IMM)algorithm optimized for tracking maneuvering near space hypersonic gliding vehicles(NSHGV)with a fast adaptive sam-pling control logic.The algorithm utilizes the model probabilities to dynamically adjust the revisit time corresponding to NSHGV maneuvers,thus achieving a balance between tracking accuracy and resource consumption.Simulation results on typical NSHGV targets show that the proposed algo-rithm improves tracking accuracy and resource allocation efficiency compared to other conventional multiple model algorithms.

Impacts of space-time-frequency synchronization errors onwide-band target echo characteristics of bistatic/multistatic radar

Bistatic/multistatic radar has great potential advantages over its monostatic counterpart. However, the separation of a transmitter and a receiver leads to difficulties in locating the target position accurately and guaranteeing space-timefrequency synchronization of the transmitter and the receiver.The error model of space-time-frequency synchronization in a motion platform of bistatic/multistatic radar is studied. The relationship between the space synchronization error and the transmitter platform position, receiver platform position, moving state, and beam pointing error, is analyzed. The effect of space synchronization error on target echo power is studied. The target scattering characteristics are restructured by many separate scattering centers of the target in high frequency regions. Based on the scattering centers model of the radar target, this radar target echo model and the simulation method are discussed. The algorithm of bistatic/multistatic radar target echo accurately reflects the scattering characteristics of the radar target, pulse modulation speciality of radar transmitting signals, and spacetime-frequency synchronization error characteristics between the transmitter station and the receiver station. The simulation of bistatic radar is completed in computer, and the results of the simulation validate the feasibility of the method.

A parallel pipeline connected-component labeling method for on-orbit space target monitoring

The paper designs a peripheral maximum gray differ-ence(PMGD)image segmentation method,a connected-compo-nent labeling(CCL)algorithm based on dynamic run length(DRL),and a real-time implementation streaming processor for DRL-CCL.And it verifies the function and performance in space target monitoring scene by the carrying experiment of Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft(TZ-3).The PMGD image segmentation method can segment the image into highly discrete and simple point tar-gets quickly,which reduces the generation of equivalences greatly and improves the real-time performance for DRL-CCL.Through parallel pipeline design,the storage of the streaming processor is optimized by 55%with no need for external me-mory,the logic is optimized by 60%,and the energy efficiency ratio is 12 times than that of the graphics processing unit,62 times than that of the digital signal proccessing,and 147 times than that of personal computers.Analyzing the results of 8756 images completed on-orbit,the speed is up to 5.88 FPS and the target detection rate is 100%.Our algorithm and implementation method meet the requirements of lightweight,high real-time,strong robustness,full-time,and stable operation in space irradia-tion environment.

The collision-free trajectory planning for the space robot to capture a target based on the wavelet interpolation algorithm

In the research of path planning for manipulators with many DOF, generally there is a problem in most traditional methods, which is that their computational cost (time and memory space) increases exponentially as DOF or resolution of the discrete configuration space increases. So this paper presents the collision-free trajectory planning for the space robot to capture a target based on the wavelet interpolation algorithm. We made wavelet sample on the desired trajectory of the manipulator’s end-effector to do trajectory planning by use of the proposed wavelet interpolation formula, and then derived joint vectors from the trajectory information of the end-effector based on the fixed-attitude-restrained generalized Jacobian matrix of multi-arm coordinated motion, so as to control the manipulator to capture a static body along the desired collision-free trajectory. The method overcomes the shortcomings of the typical methods, and the desired trajectory of the end-effector can be any kind of complex nonlinear curve. The algorithm is simple and highly effective and the real trajectory is close to the desired trajectory. In simulation, the planar dual-arm three DOF space robot is used to demonstrate the proposed method, and it shows that the algorithm is feasible.

一种基于红外图像的空间目标探测方法

针对空间环境中的监视高速运动小目标的需求,提出一种基于红外图像的空间目标探测方法,实现对空间非合作目标的检测、跟踪与识别。根据目标红外特性,目标检测过程采用阈值分割算法分割目标,通过重心法提取目标质心,采用星图匹配方法剔除恒星背景;目标跟踪识别过程采用轨迹关联算法进行多目标编批及轨迹跟踪,采用基于目标运动速度信息和方向矢量信息的目标分类算法最终识别目标。实验结果表明,应用该方法能够在1 s内实现空间目标探测,满足空间环境监视对目标探测的实时性好、检测概率高、虚警概率低等要求。

空间目标天基光学定位方法综述

近年来空间目标定位领域不断结合网络协同、多模融合等探测技术,发展迅速。其中,基于天基光学探测的定位方法以隐蔽性好、测量精度高的独特优势在民用和国防领域应用广泛。为了分析不同情景下适用于不同类型目标的定位方法,针对基于天基光学探测的空间小目标定位进行综述。首先介绍天基光学探测技术的发展、空间目标的分类和特点以及空间目标定位的概念。然后着重分析适用于空间“小、弱”目标的单星和多星定位方法,并对近年提出的异质传感器联合定位展开说明。最后,依据成像过程建立空间目标定位误差分析模型,分析定位精度的影响因素占比并根据现存问题做出总结和展望。