A Dual Quaternion based RRT* Path Planning Approach for Satellite Rendezvous and Docking

TL;DR

This paper introduces a dual quaternion-based RRT* algorithm for generating smooth, collision-free 6-DOF trajectories for satellite rendezvous and docking, improving pose continuity and obstacle avoidance.

Contribution

It integrates dual quaternion algebra into RRT* for natural screw motion interpolation in satellite path planning, enhancing trajectory smoothness and obstacle handling.

Findings

Demonstrated improved pose continuity over standard RRT*

Achieved collision-free trajectories in multi-obstacle scenarios

Implemented in Python and validated through simulations

Abstract

This paper proposes a sampling-based motion planner that employs a dual quaternion representation to generate smooth, collision-free six-degree-of-freedom pose trajectories for satellite rendezvous and docking under keep-out zone constraints. The proposed planner integrates the dual quaternion algebra directly into an RRT* framework, thereby enabling natural screw motion interpolation in SE(3). The dual quaternion-based RRT* has been implemented in Python and demonstrated on a representative multi-obstacle scenario. A comparison with a standard RRT* using separate translation and quaternion steering highlights the enhanced pose continuity and obstacle avoidance of the proposed method. The present approach is purely kinematic in nature and does not take into account relative orbital dynamics. Consequently, the resulting path provides a preliminary estimate for a subsequent optimisation-based trajectory planner, which will refine the motion with dynamic constraints for the purpose of practical satellite rendezvous and docking missions.