Related papers: Vision Based Docking of Multiple Satellites with a…
This paper presents a time-constrained model predictive control strategy for the six degree-of-freedom autonomous rendezvous, proximity, operations and docking problem between a controllable "deputy" satellite and an uncontrolled "chief"…
In the present article, a new system architecture for the next generation of satellite communication (SatComs) is presented. The key concept lies in the collaboration between multibeam satellites that share one orbital position.…
Uncrewed Surface Vehicles (USVs) are a popular and efficient type of marine craft that find application in a large number of water-based tasks. When multiple USVs operate in the same area, they may be required to dock to each other to…
Capturing disused satellites in orbit and their controlled reentry is the aim of the DEOS space mission. Satellites that ran out of fuel or got damaged pose a threat to working projects in orbit. Additionally, the reentry of such objects…
Heterogeneous autonomous robot teams consisting of multirotor and uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) have the potential to enable various maritime applications, including advanced search-and-rescue operations. A critical requirement of these…
Agile earth observation satellites employ multiple actuators to enable flexible and responsive imaging capabilities. While significant advancements in actuator technology have enhanced satellites' torque and momentum, relatively little…
This paper discusses translation and attitude control in spacecraft rendezvous and soft docking. The target spacecraft orbit can be either circular or elliptic. The high fidelity model for this problem is intrinsically a nonlinear system…
Given the cost and critical functions of satellite constellations, ensuring mission longevity and safe decommissioning is essential for space sustainability. This article presents a Model Predictive Control for spacecraft trajectory and…
Automated vehicles and logistics robots must often position themselves in narrow environments with high precision in front of a specific target, such as a package or their charging station. Often, these docking scenarios are solved in two…
There is ever growing demand for satellite constellations that perform global positioning, remote sensing, earth-imaging and relay communication. In these highly prized orbits, there are many obsolete and abandoned satellites and components…
In-Motion physical coupling of multiple mobile ground robots has the potential to enable new applications like in-motion transfer that improves efficiency in handling and transferring goods, which tackles current challenges in logistics. A…
As the number of uncontrollable objects in low earth orbit is rising, the thread of collisions and thus the breakdown of working satellites becomes worth analyzing. Consequently, projects on removing objects from the important orbits are…
The periodic inspection of vessels is a fundamental task to ensure their integrity and avoid maritime accidents. Currently, these inspections represent a high cost for the ship owner, in addition to the danger that this kind of hostile…
This paper presents a strategy for control of a spacecraft docking with a non-maneuvering target in the presence of safety constraints and bounded disturbances. The presence of disturbances prevents convergence to a unique docking state, so…
Multi-robot decision-making is the process where multiple robots coordinate actions. In this paper, we aim for efficient and effective multi-robot decision-making despite the robots' limited on-board resources and the often…
This paper presents a real-time trajectory planning scheme for a heterogeneous multi-robot system (consisting of a quadrotor and a ground mobile robot) for a cooperative landing task, where the landing position, landing time, and…
We introduce the novel concept of Spatial Predictive Control (SPC) to solve the following problem: given a collection of agents (e.g., drones) with positional low-level controllers (LLCs) and a mission-specific distributed cost function,…
High-throughput satellite communication systems are growing in strategic importance thanks to their role in delivering broadband services to mobile platforms and residences and/or businesses in rural and remote regions globally. Although…
The growing density of satellites in low-Earth orbit (LEO) presents serious challenges to space sustainability, primarily due to the increased risk of in-orbit collisions. Traditional ground-based tracking systems are constrained by latency…
Autonomous aerial-surface robot teams offer a scalable solution for maritime monitoring, but deployment remains difficult due to water-induced visual artifacts and bandwidth-limited coordination. This paper presents a decentralized…