The Advanced Space Vision System (also known as the Space Vision System or SVS) is a computer vision system designed primarily for International Space Station (ISS) assembly. The system uses regular 2D cameras in the Space Shuttle bay, on the Canadarm, or on the ISS along with cooperative targets to calculate the 3D position of an object. The system runs on Neptec's Advanced Vision Unit (AVU) processing platform, which handles video routing, algorithm processing, video overlays, and the system interface. The operating system is the Unix-like and POSIX compliant QNX Real-time operating system, running the Photon windowing interface. The Photon implementation was optimized to be the most worry free direct manipulation interface possible for the particular needs and work habits of the astronauts.
The Canadian Space Agency was involved at several stages in the development and deployment of the space vision system. Training for the system takes place in the simulators located at the agency's headquarters at the John H. Chapman Space Centre near Montreal.
Implementation
The system was first tested in its early form on STS-52 in October 1992, and used in subsequent missions. The advanced version was first tested on STS-74 in November 1995.