Speaker
Description
The RVS® rendezvous & docking sensor technology has successfully served as operative LIDAR approach sensor on eigteen re-supply vehicle missions to the International Space Station (ISS). Drawing from the experience with this robust and reliable technology, the next generation time-of-flight scanning LIDAR sensors, RVS3000, has been developed and qualified by Jena-Optronik with the support of ESA and DLR – German Space Agency. The development successfully achieved:
- Reduction in envelope by approx. 50% through accommodating all
elements – optical head and electronics – in one single box - Reduction in weight by approx. 20%
- Reduction in power consumption by approx. 30%
- Enable the approach to non-cooperative targets as optional functional feature
The RVS3000 sensor family has been tested thoroughly, including an on-orbit demonstration flight of the optical head on ATV-5 in February 2015 and two campaigns with the complete sensor on robotic test ranges of DLR (EPOS) in December 2017 and of NASA in June 2018. In order to achieve the mentioned results, a number of new technologies have been incorporated:
- High-performance optical head with optimized scan mirror made from
Berillium alloy - Fiber laser with switchable power levels maintaining beam characteristics
- Optional: Image Processing Board & Iterative Closest Point Algorithm
for 6-DOF-Image-Processing
Today, RVS3000 is a leading edge rendezvous & docking sensor suitable for various applications, including ISS approach, on-orbit servicing, planetary landing, and exploration. The convincing technology and the competitive pricing have allowed to contract already nineteen flight models for both application cases, cooperative and non-cooperative targets.
