On Ground Validation of Debris Removal technologies
Creators: name: GRAZIANO, Mariella
name: COLMENAREJO, Pablo
Publisher: name: Proceedings of the 7th European Conference for Aeronautics and Space Sciences. Milano, Italy, 3-6 july 2017
Year: 2017
Subjects: ACTIVE DEBRIS REMOVAL
GROUND AND IN-FLIGHT TESTS
VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION
SIMULATION

description: The situation of orbital debris is becoming more and more a worldwide concern for the safe operations of space assets. In this context, retiring orbital debris (and extending life or repairing damaged on-orbit assets) is very attractive to satellite operators as it could potentially decrease mission risks, increase margins for commercial services or increase delivered value of scientific missions). Debris removal services (also in-orbit servicing and in-orbit assembly) require combined operation of different critical technologies, mainly autonomy, manipulation robotics, spacecraft GNC and visionbased navigation/image processing. A full combined/coupled sequence involving those critical technologies has never been performed in-orbit and has also never been tested comprehensively on ground. GMV has led a consortium (completed with Polish CBK institute for advanced space robotics manipulator solutions and with Italian TSD company with visual-based HW heritage) that has performed an ESA funded activity with the objective of advancing and exercising with real HW in the loop (HIL) and using a space-representative dynamic laboratory the referred key technologies required to perform complex robotic scenarios needing a rigid capture mechanism such as a robotic arm. The final goal of this activity (On-ground Validation of Debris Removal Technologies, ORCO) has been to investigate and mature the complex couplings between the different control systems (GNC including image processing and robotics) for autonomous rigid capture between an active chaser vehicle and a cooperative/non-cooperative target, and derive the required algorithms and perform a HW-in-the-loop end-to-end demonstration. The prototyped solution is tested in the most realistic conditions obtainable on ground, including also the dynamics of the system as well as the relative visual based navigation system. The on-ground validation and integration is performed taking advantage of the GMV platformart dynamic test facility located in Madrid, Spain, with the addition of the hardware provided by the partners: robotic system from CBK (Poland) and visual system from TSD (Italy). Ultimately, the consortium has achieved the objective of performing a comprehensive ground testing of all abovementioned critical technologies for debris removal missions, thus contributing to the technologies maturation and to the de-risking of future implementations and testing. Particularly relevant is the availability of a HIL dynamic based laboratory ready to host and test evolved or new debris removal solutions quickly and with a high degree of space representativeness. Based on the obtained results, firstly based on pure SW-based simulations and ultimately verified/validated based on HIL dynamic laboratory tests, this paper includes system level considerations (e.g. analysis and recommendations at mission/system level derived from the performed tests), and subsystem results and recommendations (e.g. best image processing/visual-based system setup/combination depending on the debris removal scenario phase, target size/characteristics, etc; best/safe guidance trajectories to approach a non-cooperative target; combined operations of chaser spacecraft GNC and robotic manipulator control system; autonomy issues such as GNC modes transitions and autonomous navigation; etc).