Autonomy for On-Orbit Assembly: Berthing vs Latency (2D)

Assembly control mode

Ground round-trip latency 6.0 s

Closing speed 0.42 m/s

Autonomous

Teleop

Berthing success rate over 10 fast-forwarded trials per mode at the current latency setting.

Live telemetry

Position error

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Orientation error

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Elapsed approach time

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Loop status

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Berthing attempts (this session)

Autonomous0 ok0 failed

Teleoperated0 ok0 failed

Event log

Autonomous approach starting…

Why autonomy, not teleoperation

Berthing a module needs corrections measured in centimeters and fractions of a degree, applied within a second or two of the error appearing — otherwise it has already grown by the time a correction arrives.

Ground teleoperation — the operator's view of the module and every command they send both cross the round-trip link. By the time a correction lands, the module has moved on; the operator over-corrects for what is now stale, and the loop can overshoot into oscillation or run out of approach distance still misaligned.
Autonomous closed-loop — an onboard controller measures position and attitude error every frame and applies a correction immediately, with no ground round-trip in the loop at all. It stays stable regardless of how far away mission control is.

Autonomous closed-loop

APPROACHING

Station / open port Incoming module (aligned) Incoming module (misaligned)