Small video satellites visual tracking control for arbitrary maneuvering targets

With advantages like low cost and real-time imaging, small video satellites have broad application prospects in disaster relief, resource investigation, target monitoring and other fields. Traditionally, position-based control methods are adopted by video satellite for target tracking, but these methods are not capable of tracking non-cooperative maneuvering target. This paper proposes an image-based visual tracking control method together with an observer of the target position. Firstly, the reference image tracking error and angular velocity error are derived on the basis of the estimated target position. Then the observer of the target position is proposed, and the position of the observed target is estimated based on the projected coordinates and visual velocity information on the image. Finally, based on the reference attitude error and the observer, the visual tracking controller is proposed to keep the projection of the moving target at the desired image center. Simulations verify the effectiveness of the proposed visual tracking controller for fast maneuvering targets.