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Completed TRL 2 (started at 2, targeting 4)
The proposed SVGS Phase 2 CAN study supports the deployment of SVGS on compact, low cost platforms that take advantage of state-of-the-art embedded electronics to make SVGS available as an integrated sensor in motion control applications such as rendezvous, docking and formation flight in small satellites. The proposed Phase 2 development will be a three-pronged effort:
Deploying SVGS on small, powerful, inexpensive development boards opens the path to use SVGS as rendezvous and docking sensor in multiple space applications. Key factors that make SVGS attractive to small sat applications (small form factor, low-power consumption, relatively simple implementation) also make it appealing to human exploration missions, where crew vehicles need to dock with a variety of platforms. The niche for a proximity operations sensor for space applications is currently open – this initiative is positioning SVGS to compete for that role.
Parallel development on the Android platform enables direct compatibility with Astrobee for future missions on board ISS, and eases redeployment in future Android phones. By deploying SVGS in the same single-board computer as the guest scientist module on Astrobee (HLP), an alternative navigation sensor that is agnostic to the Astrobee environment can be deployed on ISS with minimal hardware changes. Astrobee's vision-based navigation system relies heavily on image processing of the interior walls of ISS. SVGS could be a simpler alternative to achieve state information on the relative distances and orientations between Astrobee units and/or fixed points on ISS.
The proposed development will be tested and demonstrated using the RINGS motion control ground units developed under the SVGS Phase 1 CAN study. Both 3-DOF control (of a single RINGS assembly) and electromagnetic formation flight (using two RINGS units) will be used as demonstration and assessment examples for the proposed sensor development.
The long term vision is to continue evolving SVGS as an “agnostic" architecture that can be ported to any platform. To make SVGS available to many possible users, MSFC has the long term vision of creating and maintaining a 'portable' version of SVGS: a version of the SVGS algorithm that is agnostic to platform or language. SVGS can be implemented in ANSI C and provide an API with bindings for Python, Java, etc., to broaden its applicability. The API would be purely the image processing and mathematical portions of the SVGS algorithm, leading to the development of a 'root' version of SVGS that any potential customer could easily adapt and use in a variety of platforms and applications.
The Advanced Video Guidance Sensor (AVGS) is a vision-based sensor developed at Marshall Space Flight Center that calculates the relative range and attitude (6-DOF state) between two spacecraft. SVGS is a low-mass, low-cost implementation of AVGS using commercial off the shelf hardware. SVGS was developed for application on cubesats and other small satellites to enable autonomous rendezvous and capture, and formation flying.
The RINGS project (Resonant Inductive Near-field Generation Systems) was a DARPA-funded project to demonstrate electromagnetic formation flight and wireless power transfer in a microgravity environment. RINGS represents a 3-year effort and an investment in excess of $1 Million. Unfortunately, several integration inconsistencies in both hardware and software prevented the experiment from achieving its objectives. A later study supported by NASA ARC focused on the assessment, diagnostics, corrections and ground testing of RINGS. The purpose of the study was to understand the reasons for the failure of RINGS to complete its science sessions, and assess the possibility of correcting these errors in future RINGS missions on ISS. The assessment concluded that RINGS can be successfully used in future science sessions, provided that a new metrology system is available to navigate RINGS in real time onboard ISS.
During the SVGS Phase 1 CAN study, SVGS was integrated to a ground-based motion platform at FIT’s Aerospace Systems and Propulsion Lab to demonstrate 3-DOF motion control and formation maneuvers using SVGS as position and attitude sensor for RINGS. The following was achieved:
The proposed Phase 2 effort is aimed at two long-term objectives:
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