Available at: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/3300
Date of Award
6-2026
Degree Name
MS in Aerospace Engineering
Department/Program
Aerospace Engineering
College
College of Engineering
Advisor
Stephen Kwok-Choon
Advisor Department
Aerospace Engineering
Advisor College
College of Engineering
Abstract
This thesis presents the work completed in the development and testing of a low-cost modular sensor package capable of rendezvous and docking by providing a vehicle with relative navigational commands. These navigational commands are created using relative localization data gathered and processed onboard the sensor package, with validation, in post-processing, against global localization data. This research aims to reduce the cost of smaller autonomous vehicles by removing the need for custom control units, as its modular nature will allow it to be adapted to many different systems and vehicles. Discussed within this thesis is the rapid prototyping, development, and testing of a modular sensor package, as well as procedures used to validate its performance. The three main goals for this thesis are to present the fully fabricated and assembled sensor package, demonstrate successful testing of the onboard components at different levels of dependency, and evaluate the autonomous capabilities of the sensor package under different conditions by successfully achieving rendezvous and docking with its target. In conclusion, this thesis demonstrates the development of a sensor package that can be deployed on vehicles to assist in autonomous rendezvous and docking.