Point-Cloud-Based Relative Attitude Estimation for the Malfunctioned Satellites

On-orbit target observation, fault diagnosis, and robotic on-orbit service (OOS) for malfunctioned satellites has attracted people’s extensive attention. One of the key technologies for OOS is the relative attitude determination between the target and chaser. This paper propose a new method to determine the target attitude using point cloud data. First, the feature planes are extracted from the point cloud dataset. Secondly, the rectangular planes are recognized, and then the side length parameters are determined to identify which plane of the satellite is being observed. Thirdly, the normal vectors of the feature plane are utilized to determine the target attitude. Experiment is performed to evaluate the propose algorithm by using a TOF camera.