An Edge-Free, Scale-, Pose- and Illumination-Invariant Approach to Crater Detection for Spacecraft Navigation

Abstract

In this paper we review the image processing aspects of the popular edge-based approaches to crater detection in spacecraft navigation and discuss their performance and inherent shortcomings and the constraints these impose on mission parameters. Key weaknesses are identified and an alternative, edge-free approach is suggested. No comprehensive evaluation of detection rates and ratio of false positives to correct identifications is provided, as this is a work in progress, but example images for Lunar, asteroid and artificial settings are included to give an idea of the method's performance. Finally, the laboratory facility TRON (Testbed for Robotic Optical Navigation) used for testing and evaluating our algorithms is introduced.