EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATION OF AN INERTIA-FREE CONTROLLER AND A MULTIPLICATIVE EKF FOR POSE TRACKING AND ESTIMATION BASED ON DUAL QUATERNIONS

This paper presents the experimental results from the validation of a dual quaternion inertia-free adaptive controller, in combination with a continuous/ discrete Dual Quaternion-Multiplicative Extended Kalman Filter (DQ-MEKF) for spacecraft pose estimation and tracking. The experiments were conducted on the Autonomous Spacecraft Testing of Robotic Operations in Space (ASTROS) facility, an experimental 5-DOF platform located at the Georgia Institute of Technology, equipped with rate gyros, inertial measurement unit, reaction wheels, cameras, and cold-gas thrusters. Experimental results are given for a maneuver in closed-loop, and are evaluated using a VICON optical tracking system.