{"id":886,"date":"2013-02-28T16:59:37","date_gmt":"2013-02-28T16:59:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=886"},"modified":"2013-02-28T16:59:37","modified_gmt":"2013-02-28T16:59:37","slug":"spheres-gain-stereo-vision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=886","title":{"rendered":"SPHERES gain stereo vision"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SPHERES-VERTIGO1_450x344\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The bowling-ball-sized free-flying satellites called SPHERES (Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites)<\/p>\n

are being fitted with their own “goggles” — a computer and stereoscopic camera setup named the Visual Estimation and Relative Tracking for Inspection of Generic Objects, or VERTIGO — to demonstrate critical technologies for relative navigation based on a visual model.<\/p>\n

Brent Tweddle, a member of the MIT Space Systems Laboratory SPHERES-VERTIGO<\/a> experiment team, recently spoke with ISS Update commentator Pat Ryan to discuss the technology behind these tests taking place aboard the station and its applicability for future spaceflight.<\/p>\n

Commenting on the appearance of the VERTIGO hardware, Tweddle remarked, “It’s sort of funny the way that fell out. I mean, we weren’t trying to make it look like anything, but a lot of people have commented it kind of looks like a WALL-E figure. But it really just fell out of the requirements.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n