Int. J. Space Science and Engineering, Vol. 4, No. 4, 2017 309 Feature-based visual servo control preserving wide-angle properties of super wide-angle lens Hirohisa Kojima* Department of Aerospace Engineering, Graduate School of System Design, Tokyo Metropolitan University, 6-6 Asahigaoka, Hino, Tokyo 191-0065, Japan Email: hkojima@tmu.ac.jp *Corresponding author Pavel M. Trivailo School of Engineering, RMIT University, Bundoora, VIC 3083, Australia Email: trivailo@rmit.edu.au Abstract: Feature-based visual servo control methods determine camera motion by comparing a current feature image and the goal feature image. Because these methods do not require 3D information for the object, no geometric model of the object is needed, and it is therefore robust against various disturbances. Several feature-based visual servo control methods have been proposed, such as using a wide-angle lens allows the camera to capture the object in a wide angular range. However, when using a wide-angle lens with a conventional control scheme the camera undergoes wasted motion due to the peripheral distortion of wide-angle lenses. In addition, correction of the image distortion results in the loss of the wide-angle properties of the lens. This paper proposes a new feature-based visual servo control method based on a super wide-angle lens that preserves wide-angle properties. Keywords: visual servo; wide-angle lens; lens distortion; space robotic manipulator control. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Kojima, H. and Trivailo, P.M. (2017) ‘Feature-based visual servo control preserving wide-angle properties of super wide-angle lens’, Int. J. Space Science and Engineering, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp.309–329. Biographical notes: Hirohisa Kojima is a Professor at the Department of Aerospace Engineering, Tokyo Metropolitan University. He earned his BE, ME and PhD degrees from the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the University of Tokyo. His current research interests are dynamics and control of space robots, optimisation, and chaos control. He is a member of JSASS, JSME, SICE, IEEE and RSJ, and a senior member of AIAA. He is on the editorial board of the International Journal of Space Science and Engineering. Copyright © 2017 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.