Visual Odometry for Autonomous Deep-Space Navigation

Abstract

Visual Odometry fills two critical needs shared by all future exploration architectures considered by NASA: Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking (AR&D), and autonomous navigation during loss of comm. To do this, a camera is combined with cutting-edge algorithms (called Visual Odometry) into a unit that provides accurate relative pose between the camera and the object in the imagery. Recent simulation analyses have demonstrated the ability of this new technology to reliably, accurately, and quickly compute a relative pose. This project advances this technology by both preparing the system to process flight imagery and creating an activity to capture said imagery. This technology can provide a pioneering optical navigation platform capable of supporting a wide variety of future missions scenarios: deep space rendezvous, asteroid exploration, loss-of-comm.