A short-distance visual servo control method for the tethered space robot system

In the short distance visual servo approach, the solar panel bracket may not be completely imaged for the constrained visual field of camera, which will result in the lack of image features. Under the condition of the incomplete measurement information, the nonlinear measurement model of tethered space robot (TSR) is derived. By using the image feature of the solar panel bracket and the platform measurement information, a mixed visual servo control method is proposed. The edge line images of the solar panel bracket are used to track the relative position and attitude between TSR and the target. The platform measurement information, which has a large margin of error, is used to ensure the stability of the control system. The simulation results show that the gripper of TSR should reach the solar panel bracket of the target satellite and meet the capture conditions. The visual servo control method is effective.