Special Seminar with Prof. Tat-Jun Chin

Rendezvous, proximity operations and docking (RPOD) are space operations that underpin advanced missions such as on orbit servicing and space debris removal. In RPOD operations, two or more spacecraft come into close proximity and interact with each other. Robotic vision has been identified as an important component in the onboard guidance, navigation and control (GNC) system that enables RPOD to be accomplished safely. In particular, vision-based satellite pose estimation allows a spacecraft to gauge the position and orientation of another spacecraft in proximity, based on image observations. This talk will provide an overview of research on vision-based satellite pose estimation at the Sentient Satellites Laboratory, The University of Adelaide. Topics that will be covered include algorithms for pose estimation, data collection and testing facilities, domain adaptation, and novel sensors to deal with challenging space conditions. The difficulty of executing machine learning inference on space-borne computing platforms will also be briefly discussed.