On-line robust pose estimation for Rendezvous and Docking in space using photonic mixer devices

• Exploitation of environment characteristics for stable pose estimation.
• Algorithm works at rates higher than typical for a RvD maneuver in space.
• Accuracy improvements of up to one order of magnitude compared to previous works.
• Autonomous algorithm without requirement of user initialization.

In this paper a new approach for estimating the pose of an unknown object using Photonic Mixer Devices (PMD) based cameras is presented. The algorithm works on-line by making use of the amplitude and depth information provided at high frame rates by the camera. The aim of the work is to provide a robust pose estimation as an input for control systems in Rendezvous and Docking (RvD) maneuvers in space. The performance of the developed algorithm is evaluated in six different simple scenarios corresponding to the six degrees-of-freedom (DoF) of the object. Final results with errors less than 1% are obtained for the distance estimation and errors ranging from less than 1% up to less than 9% for the velocity estimation.