Band contour-extraction method based on conformal geometrical algebra for space tumbling targets

To remove space debris actively, the key step is choosing a suitable capturing method. The size characteristics of space debris are an important factor that affects the capturing method. This paper presents a contour-extracting algorithm for rolling targets, such as space debris. The representation of the point in Euclidean space is converted to a conformal space to obtain candidate contour points through the computational geometric and topological relationships among the points, lines, and surfaces in a high-dimensional space. By combining this conversion with the multiview stitching algorithm, the complete candidate contour point model is obtained. The final contour points are extracted by determining the concave and convex points in conformal space. Simulation results prove that the unified expression of the geometric features in conformal space not only reduces the computational complexity but also increases the speed of the contour point extraction. The method proposed in this paper is superior to other methods in terms of measurement accuracy, speed, and robustness; in particular, the accuracy increased by 60%.