An Open Research Facility for Vision‐Based Navigation Onboard the International Space Station

This paper describes the VERTIGO Goggles, a hardware upgrade to the SPHERES satellites that enables vision-based navigation research in the 6 degree-of-freedom, microgravity environment of the International Space Station ISS. The Goggles include stereo cameras, an embedded x86 computer, a high-speed wireless communications system, and the associated electromechanical and software systems. The Goggles were designed to be a modular, expandable, and upgradable "open research test bed" that have been used for a variety of other experiments by external researchers. In February 2013, the Goggles successfully completed a hardware checkout on the ISS and was used for initial vision-based navigation research. This checkout included a successful camera calibration by an astronaut onboard the ISS. This paper describes the requirements, design, and operation of this test bed as well as the experimental results of its first checkout operations.

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