THE USE OF ROBOTICS IS BEING EXPLORED BY NASA FOR PREPARATION AND LAUNCH OF SPACE VEHICLES. ONE PROJECT CURRENTLY UNDERWAY IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A REAL-TIME TRACKING SYSTEM FOR MATING UMBILICAL CONNECTIONS TO A SHUTTLE ON THE LAUNCH PAD. THIS PAPER BRIEFLY DESCRIBES THE HARDWARE AND INTEGRATION OF THE COMPONENTS IN THIS SYSTEM. NEXT A MODEL OF THE SYSTEM IS DESCRIBED WHICH INCLUDES PLOTS OF THE TRACKING SYSTEM. FINALLY, AN ALGORITHM IS DESCRIBED TO SELF-TUNE THE GAINS IN THE SOFTWARE CONTROL SYSTEM. ANALYSIS IS PROVIDED FOR VARIABLES THAT AFFECT THESE GAINS. DIFFERENT TRACKING PERFORMANCE CRITERIA ALSO ARE DISCUSSED.