Analysis of the accuracy of autonomous navigation of the space robot in the diagnosis of the technical condition of an orbital object

The article presents the results of analysis of the accuracy of autonomous navigation of a space robot in solving  tasks of remote diagnostics of the technical condition of an orbital object in coplanar orbits. The angle between the stellar line and the direction of the orbital object, the distance to the orbital object and the rate of its change are taken as the primary navigation parameters measured onboard of a space robot. The space robot navigation accuracy is assessed on the basis of an analytical method. Assumptions of the normal law of distribution of measurement errors with known characteristics, the motion of the space robot and the orbital object in the central gravitational field of the Earth and the equality of the heights of their reference orbits are introduced. As a result of research covariance matrices of errors of determining the parameters of space robot center-of-mass motion were obtained in analytical form. The analysis of the accuracy of autonomous navigation carried out in the present paper can be used at the stage of feasibility study of the conceptual design of the control and navigation system of a space robot, for example, when solving the problem of choosing the composition of the onboard equipment, determining the accuracy specifications of onboard measuring devices and the amount of measurements carried out within the navigation mode.