Visual Augmentation Methods for Teleoperated Space Rendezvous

The doctoral thesis investigates the benefits of a visual support system on the teleoperation of docking maneuvers with uncooperative space objects (i.e. malfunctioning satellites). For this purpose a satellite attitude Head-Up Display (HUD), a trajectory prediction display, and a robotic camera arm (called the ThirdEye) were developed, which allows the operator to view relative position and orientation from variable vantage points. Furthermore a simulation environment was implemented which was used to verify the system components in user studies. These studies showed that the use of an „outside-in“ HUD increased effectiveness and efficiency of teleoperation. It is furthermore shown that teleoperation of docking approaches with uncooperative, rotating target objects is feasible, using the HUD and the trajectory prediction display. The use of the ThirdEye leads to increased operator performance and to an increase in situation awareness.