Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Institute of Space Technology and Aeronautics
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Institute of Space Technology and Aeronautics
National Institute of Information and Communications Technology
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Institute of Space Technology and Aeronautics
Image processing experiments have been conducted on Micro-LabSat, which was launched as a piggyback payload of the Advanced Earth Observation Satellite-2 (ADEOS 2) on 14 December, 2002. In a series of experiments to test automatic target recognition using image processing techniques, Micro-LabSat released an orange-colored object called the target at a velocity of about 1 cm/sec towards the Earth, and then proceeded to capture images of it using an on-board CMOS camera. The target was successfully recognized, and the feasibility of the technique in a realistic scenario, using an actual on-board camera to provide color information, was confirmed. This technique is applicable to future space applications such as space debris removal. This report describes the preparation, operation, and results of these experiments.