Optimal site selection for soft landing on asteroid

An algorithm for autonomous selection of optimal landing site based on the image is proposed. Firstly, referenced rocks` shadow and light areas are extracted by the use of double threshold segmentation based on the two-dimensional maximum entropy. Then, the threshold segmentation image is processed further, including the combination of the shadow and light areas in order to form obstacle areas and extracting connected areas etc. However, the selection of the safe landing areas should not only take the safety into consideration, but also pay more attention to the value of scientific research. Therefore, the traditional method should be improved. Finally, the optimal landing site is selected based on fuzzy rules merged expertise. Experiments demonstrate that the algorithm can be used to select the optimal landing site accurately and it proves that the method proposed is feasible and robust.