Tenders Are Invited For Prototype Of A Robust Very-Close Range Navigation System For Rendezvous And Docking/Capture

Tenders are invited for Prototype of a Robust Very-Close Range Navigation System for Rendezvous and Docking/Capture Expro+ To trade-off, develop and test a visual navigation system able to robustly estimate the relative states to a target at, or close toa docking or capture location.Description: Navigation in close proximity to a target object is a challenging task because the accuracy needed to achieve docking or capture grows inversely with the distance from the target and, at the same time, as the target gets closer, typical target sizes greatly exceed the field of view of a wide-angle cameras (hence limiting the options on pose estimation techniques) and visual features are reduced (because only a fraction of the target is visible through the cameras). Availabilityof depth information can greatly assist the navigation task in very close proximity and several techniques and passive hardware devices (e.g. plenoptic and other light-field cameras) are available, using raw and/or pre-/post-processed data, in order to support the generation of a depth map (partial 3D model generated on-the-fly) of a target. In the first part of this activity, an assessment of the performances, robustness and computational needs and efficiency of the different approaches for generation of a depth map willbe performed considering the realistic but very demanding conditions (illumination, occlusions on the target surface, etc.) applicable to this phase of a rendezvous manoeuvre. Subsequently, the above assessment will be incorporated into a trade-off exercise versus other vision-based navigation strategies aimed at robustly estimating the relative states to a target. Following the closure of this trade-off, a visual navigation system will be defined and the corresponding image processing algorithms, data fusion process, andnavigation filters will be designed and implemented in a software prototype, which will undergo testing at software and GNC level (including functional and performance testing) in a representative simulation environment. The demonstration of the suitability of the developed algorithms shall also be achieved using a processor-in-the-loop (PIL) setup. This activity encompasses the following tasks: - Review of technical literature specific to the problem of very-close range relative navigation in space. - Consolidation of applicable requirements and scenarios. - Assessment of depth-map generation techniques. - Trade-off and preliminary design of navigation system architecture. - Detailed design of the navigation system algorithms, including deployment in a software prototype - Validation of the algorithms in a representative simulation environment. - Verification on a representative flight processor. Read less Tender Link : https://esastar-publication-ext.sso.esa.int/ESATenderActions/filter/open