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The space environment around the Earth is becoming increasingly populated by both active spacecraft and space debris. To avoid potential collision events, significant improvements in Space Situational Awareness (SSA) activities and…
This paper presents the design of a research platform for autonomous driving applications, the Delft's Autonomous-driving Robotic Testbed (DART). Our goal was to design a small-scale car-like robot equipped with all the hardware needed for…
Large assemblies of extremely simple robots capable only of basic motion activities (like propelling forward or self-rotating) are often applied to study swarming behavior or implement various phenomena characteristic of active matter…
Flying robots are usually rather delicate and require protective enclosures when facing the risk of collision, while high complexity and reduced payload are recurrent problems with collision-resilient flying robots. Inspired by arthropods'…
In order to create cooperating swarms of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles (UAVs) that also interact with various other systems and devices, open and free communication systems are mandatory. This paper presents an implementation of such a…
In the past few years, there has been a resurgence in studies towards space-based optical/infrared interferometry, particularly with the vision to use the technique to discover and characterise temperate Earth-like exoplanets around solar…
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are often used for navigating dangerous terrains, however they are difficult to pilot. Due to complex input-output mapping schemes, limited perception, the complex system dynamics and the need to maintain a…
The historical development of ground based astronomical telescopes leads us to expect that space-based astronomical telescopes will need to be operational for many decades. The exchange of scientific instruments in space will be a…
One of the primary objectives of small satellites is to reduce the costs associated with spacecraft development and operations as compared to traditional spacecraft missions. Small satellite missions are generally able to reduce mission…
This paper focuses on the development of a ground-based test-bed to analyze the complexities of contact dynamics between multibody systems in space. The test-bed consists of an air-bearing platform equipped with a 7 degrees-of-freedom (one…
A physical selfie stick extends the user's reach, enabling the acquisition of personal photos that include more of the background scene. Similarly, a quadcopter can capture photos from vantage points unattainable by the user; but…
Space debris is an ever-increasing problem in space travel. There are already many old, no longer functional spacecraft and debris orbiting the earth, which endanger both the safe operation of satellites and space travel. Small…
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"…
Drones are a versatile platform for both amateur and professional photographers, enabling them to capture photos that are impossible to shoot with ground-based cameras. However, when guided by inexperienced pilots, they have a high…
This paper presents the development and evaluation of an optimization-based autonomous trajectory planning algorithm for the asteroid reconnaissance phase of a deep-space exploration mission. The reconnaissance phase is a low-altitude flyby…
Autonomous spacecraft relative navigation technology has been planned for and applied to many famous space missions. The development of on-board electronics systems has enabled the use of vision-based and LiDAR-based methods to achieve…
We present CloudGripper, an open source cloud robotics testbed, consisting of a scalable, space and cost-efficient design constructed as a rack of 32 small robot arm work cells. Each robot work cell is fully enclosed and features individual…
We present a planning and control approach for collaborative transportation of objects in space by a team of robots. Object and robots in microgravity environments are not subject to friction but are instead free floating. This property is…
This paper aims to enhance the efficiency of validation and verification campaigns involving fuel sloshing phenomena. Our first contribution is the development of an open-source, high-fidelity and computationally efficient two-dimensional…
Soft landing on small celestial bodies (SCBs) poses unique challenges, as gravitational models poorly characterize the higher-order gravitational effects of SCBs. Existing control approaches lack guarantees for safety under gravitational…