Relative pose estimation under monocular vision in rendezvous and docking

Autonomous rendezvous and docking (ARD) plays a very important role in planned space programs such as on-orbit construction and assembly, refueling of satellites, repairing or rescuing failed satellites, active removal of space debris, autonomous re-supply and crew exchange of space stations, and so on. However,the success of ARD rests with the estimation accuracy and efficiency of relative pose among various spacecraft in rendezvous and docking. In this paper, a high accuracy and efficiency estimation algorithm of relative pose of cooperative space targets is presented based on monocular vision imaging, in which a modified gravity model approach and multiple targets tracking methods are employed to improve the accuracy of feature extraction and enhance the estimation efficiency, moreover the Levenberg-Marquardt method (LMM) is used to achieve a well global convergence. The experimental results demonstrate its outstanding predominance in estimation accuracy and efficiency.