AEM & MnRI Colloquium: DR. CHRISTOPHER PETERSEN

Developing, Designing, and Deploying Model Predictive Control for Satellite Rendezvous and Proximity Operations

Asst. Prof Chris Petersen, Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, University of Florida

2:30 PM on 2022-11-04

Bio: Dr. Christopher "Chrispy" Petersen is an Assistant Professor at the University of Florida in the Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Department as of Fall 2023. He leads the Spacecraft Technology And Research (STAR) Laboratory, which is focused on 4 pillars of research; 1) Exploring & exploiting spacecraft dynamics, 2) Advanced guidance, navigation, control, and autonomy (GNCA), 3) Real-time, computationally aware optimization for spacecraft and 4) Immersive human-satellite interfaces. While he enjoys everything in space, his group's research focuses primarily on rendezvous, proximity operations, and docking (RPOD) and eXtra GEOstationary (XGEO, which is above Geostationary orbit to the Moon, and beyond). Before that, he was at the Space Vehicles Directorate of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL/RV) at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. He received his B.S. from Syracuse University in Aerospace Engineering in 2012 and his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 2016 in Spacecraft Dynamics & Control. While at AFRL he worked on 10+ satellite experiments, developing, deploying, and executing GNCA algorithms for ground and on-orbit use. As a highlight, Dr. Petersen was the PI for advanced autonomous guidance algorithms used by the Mycroft flight experiment, which has been recognized as "...the AF's biggest game changer" for space warfighters. He also served as Deputy Program Manager of the Autonomous Demonstrations and Orbital eXperiments (ADOX) Portfolio, a series of satellite demonstrations focused on autonomy technologies to enable satellite inspection, XGEO space domain awareness, and logistics in GEO, including advanced propulsion and refueling. For his accomplishments, in 2021, he was awarded the AFRL Early Career Award.

Abstract: The process of developing, designing, and deploying algorithms in relevant environments is one that couples theory and application tightly. This is especially prevalent in satellite navigation and control. Deploying these methods requires rigorous theory to ensure confidence that the algorithm will not cause damage to a multi-million dollar asset. However, such methods may require repeated execution in seconds to minutes with minimum memory impact. Such considerations are important to the United States Space Force (USSF) as it strives to remain at the forefront of technology development for future satellite architectures.

This talk will discuss the process of developing, designing, and deploying algorithms, in particular Model Predictive Control (MPC), for satellite rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO). These RPO missions must facilitate numerous requirements. Firstly, the ability to operate in unknown, communication limited environments, such as in geostationary orbit and beyond. Secondly, these algorithms must enable precise, time-critical maneuvering and replanning for missions like on-orbit assembly and manufacturing. Some key aspects that will be highlighted throughout the talk are (1) understanding and exploiting underlying spacecraft dynamics, (2) how to design algorithms to meet mission needs, and (3) steps to take to ensure that algorithms can be maximized for satellite and operator use. In the context of MPC, this will entail developing the optimization problem to ensure stability, robustness, and recursive feasibility while tailoring the methods for real-time feedback control and planning.