Related papers: Low-Energy Round-Trip Trajectories to Near-Earth O…
Successive convex programming (SCP) is a powerful class of direct optimization methods, known for its polynomial complexity and computational efficiency, making it particularly suitable for autonomous applications. Direct methods are also…
This paper presents a computationally efficient optimization algorithm for solving nonconvex optimal control problems that involve discrete logic constraints. Traditional solution methods for these constraints require binary variables and…
Operating satellites in Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) benefits the already expanding New Space industry in applications including Earth Observation and beyond. However, long-term operations at such low altitudes require propulsion systems to…
There exist cislunar and trans-lunar libration points near the Moon, which are referred as the LL1 and LL2 points respectively and can generate the different types of low-energy trajectories transferring from Earth to Moon. The…
This paper presents a novel solution to address the challenges in achieving energy efficiency and cooperation for collision avoidance in UAV swarms. The proposed method combines Artificial Potential Field (APF) and Particle Swarm…
Exploring an unknown environment without colliding with obstacles is one of the essentials of autonomous vehicles to perform diverse missions such as structural inspections, rescues, deliveries, and so forth. Therefore, unmanned aerial…
Challenging space missions include those at very low altitudes, where the atmosphere is source of aerodynamic drag on the spacecraft. To extend the lifetime of such missions, an efficient propulsion system is required. One solution is…
The icy moons are in the focus of the exploration plans of the leading space agencies because of the indications of water-based life and geological activity observed in a number of these objects. In particular, the presence of geyser-like…
We herein utilize the general three-body problem (GTBP) as a model, in order to simulate resonant systems consisting of a star and two planets, where at least one of them is highly eccentric. We study them in terms of their long-term…
We present a trajectory concept for a small mission to the four inner large satellites of Saturn. Leveraging the high efficiency of electric propulsion, the concept enables orbit insertion around each of the moons, for arbitrarily long…
We focus on push-based multi-object rearrangement planning using a nonholonomically constrained mobile robot. The simultaneous geometric, kinematic, and physics constraints make this problem especially challenging. Prior work on…
The problem under consideration is to drive a spatial vehicle to a target at a given final time while minimizing fuel consumption. This is a classical optimal control problem in a deterministic setting. However temporary stochastic failures…
In this paper we present a new approach to solve the fuel-efficient powered descent guidance problem on large planetary bodies with no atmosphere (e.g. the Moon or Mars) using the recently developed Theory of Functional Connections. The…
Driven by the desire to find positions that satisfy keepout constraints for a space-based telescope mission, this work develops a process for tracing a point in space in the regime of the restricted three-body problem to a halo orbit,…
This paper solves the rendezvous problem for a network of underactuated rigid bodies such as quadrotor helicopters. A control strategy is presented that makes the centres of mass of the vehicles converge to an arbitrarily small neighborhood…
Extrasolar planetary systems commonly exhibit planets on eccentric orbits, with many systems located near or within mean-motion resonances, showcasing a wide diversity of orbital architectures. Such complex systems challenge traditional…
Co-orbital objects, also known as trojans, are frequently found in simulations of planetary system formation. In these configurations, a planet shares its orbit with other massive bodies. It is still unclear why there have not been any…
In the last decade, a great effort has been employed in the study of Hybrid Unmanned Aerial Underwater Vehicles, robots that can easily fly and dive into the water with different levels of mechanical adaptation. However, most of this…
The Hilda group is a set of asteroids whose mean motion is in a 3:2 orbital resonance with Jupiter. In this paper we use the planar Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem (CRTBP) as a dynamical model and we show that there exists a family…
In many mobile robotics scenarios, such as drone racing, the goal is to generate a trajectory that passes through multiple waypoints in minimal time. This problem is referred to as time-optimal planning. State-of-the-art approaches either…