Related papers: Systematic Low-Thrust Trajectory Optimization for …
Low-mass probes propelled by directed energy from earth are an early option for exploration of nearby star systems. A challenging aspect of such technology is returning scientific observational data to earth. We compare two configurations…
Spacecraft operations are influenced by uncertainties such as dynamics modeling, navigation, and maneuver execution errors. Although mission design has traditionally incorporated heuristic safety margins to mitigate the effect of…
In this paper, we investigate resource allocation design for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-enabled communication systems, where a UAV is dispatched to provide communications to multiple user nodes. Our objective is to maximize the…
In this article, theory-based analytical methodologies of astrophysics employed in the modern era are suitably operated alongside a test research-grade telescope to image and determine the orbit of a near-earth asteroid from original…
Gravity-Assisted maneuvers have been used as a technique to reduce fuel consumption in deep space missions for several decades now. It opened the doors of the exterior solar system. The literature shows those results, as well as new…
This work presents a 3D multi-robot exploration framework for a team of UGVs moving on uneven terrains. The framework was designed by casting the two-level coordination strategy presented in [1] into the context of multi-robot exploration.…
This paper shows how to find lower bounds on, and sometimes solve globally, a large class of nonlinear optimal control problems with impulsive controls using semi-definite programming (SDP). This is done by relaxing an optimal control…
Autonomous exploration is an application of growing importance in robotics. A promising strategy is ergodic trajectory planning, whereby an agent spends in each area a fraction of time which is proportional to its probability information…
Optimizing space vehicle routing is crucial for critical applications such as on-orbit servicing, constellation deployment, and space debris de-orbiting. Multi-target Rendezvous presents a significant challenge in this domain. This problem…
A new approach is presented for the problem of optimal impulsive rendezvous of a spacecraft in an inertial frame near a circular orbit in a Newtonian gravitational field. The total characteristic velocity to be minimized is replaced by a…
Low-thrust trajectory design and in-flight control remain two of the most challenging topics for new-generation satellite operations. Most of the solutions currently implemented are based on reference trajectories and lead to sub-optimal…
This paper examines the effectiveness of an asteroid exploration architecture comprised of multiple nanosatellite sized spacecraft deployed from a single mother ship into a heliocentric orbit in the main asteroid belt where the mothership…
Proper modelling of the gravitational fields of irregularly shaped asteroids and comets is an essential yet challenging part of any spacecraft visit and flyby to these bodies. Accurate density representations provide crucial information for…
In asteroid rendezvous missions, the dynamical environment near the asteroid's surface should be made clear prior to the mission launch. However, most of the asteroids have irregular shapes, which lower the efficiency of calculating their…
This work develops feasible path trajectories for a coordinated strike with multiple aircraft in a constrained environment. Using direct orthogonal collocation methods, the two-point boundary value optimal control problem is transcribed…
Building and maintaining a space object catalog is necessary for space situational awareness. To realize this, one great challenge is uncooperative spacecraft maneuver detection because unknown maneuver events can lead to deviated orbital…
Joint space trajectory optimization under end-effector task constraints leads to a challenging non-convex problem. Thus, a real-time adaptation of prior computed trajectories to perturbation in task constraints often becomes intractable.…
Scalable multi-robot transition is essential for ubiquitous adoption of robots. As a step towards it, a computationally efficient decentralized algorithm for continuous-time trajectory optimization in multi-robot scenarios based upon model…
Inspired by the recent 11th Global Trajectory Optimisation Competition, this paper presents the asteroid routing problem (ARP) as a realistic benchmark of algorithms for expensive bound-constrained black-box optimization in permutation…
As low-thrust space missions increase in prevalence, it is becoming increasingly important to design robust trajectories against unforeseen thruster outages or missed thrust events. Accounting for such events is particularly important in…