Straight from the VISORS formation flying flight software review, please see below an accelerated video of high-fidelity hardware-in-the-loop results.
Here, the Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) flight software is fed with actual measurements produced by 2x NovAtel GPS receivers stimulated by a new generation IFEN GmbH NCS NOVA stimulator. In turn, the GNC flight software closes the loop with the receivers by controlling the relative motion in real-time.
Besides the actual trajectory (left), relative navigation and control results (right) demonstrate sub-centimeter relative positioning accuracy during repeated formation alignments at 40m distance with relative e-/i-vector separation for passively-safe ultra high-resolution imaging obtained by the segmented telescope.
The creation of first-of-their-kind distributed space systems continue at Stanford's Space Rendezvous Laboratory. Video and analysis produced by PhD student Samuel Low, lead navigation technologist for VISORS.
