Vision-Based CubeSat Closed-Loop Formation Control in Close Proximities

Abstract

A vision based formation and attitude controller has been derived and simulated for the formation keeping of two 3U CubeSats. Four markers are installed on the leader CubeSat. Two cameras are installed on the follower CubeSat. An efficient vision based pose estimation method is used to estimate the pose of the follower with respect to the leader. A Higher-Order Sliding Mode (HOSM) exact differentiator with finite-time convergence is derived to estimate the rate of the follower’s pose parameters. The follower’s pose and its time rate are fedback to HOSM formation and attitude controllers to correct any gradual drift in formation and pose of the follower. The simulations show the effectiveness of the approach, and its feasibility on existing hardware.