Descrizione del progetto
Perfezionare il controllo autonomo per i veicoli spaziali a guida autonoma
Il miglioramento della guida autonoma può rafforzare l’utilità dei piccoli veicoli spaziali quali i cubesat. Finanziato dal programma di azioni Marie Skłodowska-Curie, il progetto FAAST svilupperà algoritmi di guida e controllo per questi e altri tipi di veicoli spaziali interplanetari. Il fulcro primario verterà sulla guida e sul controllo orbitali autonomi per missioni scientifiche nello spazio profondo, in particolare per missioni di controllo in prossimità di asteroidi. Il progetto contribuirà inoltre al progetto EXTREMA del gruppo DART, che sta sviluppando nuove tecniche di guida, navigazione e controllo per veicoli spaziali a guida autonoma. L’attività di ricerca spazierà da sviluppi fondamentali nella meccanica celeste e nell’astrodinamica allo sviluppo e alla dimostrazione di specifici algoritmi in una configurazione a elevata fedeltà. Incentiverà inoltre la cooperazione transatlantica tra le comunità di ricerca in materia di veicoli spaziali di Stati Uniti ed UE.
Obiettivo
The FAAST project (Facilitating Autonomy in Astrodynamics for Spacecraft Technology) is proposed for developing autonomous guidance and control algorithms for CubeSats and other interplanetary spacecraft. This project will be conducted with Prof. Francesco Topputo of the DART group at Politecnico di Milano (Polimi) in Italy, which has expertise in deep-space guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) from its past and present involvement with ESA projects, including multiple CubeSat missions. The primary focus of FAAST is on autonomous orbit guidance and control for deep-space scientific space missions - a challenging problem which currently must be handled by dedicated teams of engineers on Earth which support the spacecraft's operations. In particular, this work is concerned with autonomous guidance and control in the vicinity of asteroids, which presents a particularly challenging environment. The FAAST project will contribute to, benefit from, and interface with the DART group's EXTREMA project, a 5 year (2021-2026) €2M project funded by the European Research Council. EXTREMA is developing new GNC techniques for self-driving spacecraft.
FAAST proposes research activity that spans from fundamental developments in celestial mechanics and astrodynamics to specific algorithm development and demonstration in a high-fidelity setting. This presents an ambitious course of research for a two-year project, but it is well-organized into four achievable objectives. The researcher holds a PhD in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from the University of Colorado Boulder, a leading institution in spaceflight education and research. The supervisor is a Full Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Polimi, and a leading expert in spacecraft GNC and interplanetary CubeSats. This project has the potential to meaningfully advance the state-of-the-art in spacecraft guidance and control while facilitating transatlantic cooperation between the US and EU spaceflight research communities.
Campo scientifico
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringvehicle engineeringaerospace engineeringastronautical engineeringspacecraft
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyplanetary sciencesasteroids
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringvehicle engineeringaerospace engineeringsatellite technology
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyplanetary sciencescelestial mechanics
Programma(i)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Meccanismo di finanziamento
HORIZON-AG-UN - HORIZON Unit GrantCoordinatore
20133 Milano
Italia