Ground experiment system for dual-manipulator-based capture of damaged satellites

Abstract

A robot satellite with dual-manipulators is one of the choices to capture damaged satellites in orbit. We have constructed a ground experiment simulator system including two 7-degree-ofifreedom (DOF) manipulators as a chaser satellite model and floating testbeds on a &' at floor as target satellite models. This system is a tele-operation ground experiment system and consists of the following subsystems: the robot system, vision system, manipulator operating system, ground control system and damage satellite model system. Using this system, we will study on feasible capturing and berthing methods of damaged satellites using dual-manipulators. In this paper, we explain the detailed description of the system and report the results of fundamental capture experiments.simulated robot (chaser) satellite and a floating testbed is a simulated target satellite. This system can simulate dynamics of the target satellite constraining on two-dimensional space in micro-gravity environment, and gives us strategies and approaches to capture damaged satellites in space using the dual-manipulator as an example of in-orbit services. In this paper, we explain the hardware of this experiment system and motion control of the dual-manipulator, and examine the possibility of automatic satellite capturing method using camera images through fundamental capture experiments.

Robotic Manipulation and Capture in Space: A Survey

“…An emulation of zero-g translational motion can be achieved by an air-bearing table on which a spacecraft translates on a flat surface perpendicular to the gravity direction while being floated on a cushion of compressed air with almost no resistance. This technique has been used for testing various space systems such as formation flying ( Choset and Kortenkamp, 1999 ), free-flying space robots ( Yoshida, 2003 ), orbital rendezvous and docking ( Matunaga et al, 2000 ; Aghili and Su, 2016 ), capturing mechanisms of spacecraft ( Kawamoto et al, 2001 ), and free-flying inspection vehicles ( Choset and Kortenkamp, 1999 ).…”

Historical Review of Air-Bearing Spacecraft Simulators

“…The Tokyo Institute of Technology is investigating this topic on a 10 £ 16 ft plate glass planar air-bearing table with a pair of seven-degree-of-freedomarticulated arms; one arm randomly executes commands in simulation of a failing spacecraft, while the other attempts to capture it. 4 The University of Victoria has a planar air bearing that hosts a singleroboticarm. It is being used to investigatethe optimal joint trajectory of an articulated arm to minimize vibration excitation within the arm elements during a designatedmaneuver.Through this experimentation they have proven that joint trajectory optimization can signi cantly reduce the total strain energy incurred within structural elements during point-to-point motions.…”

Scaling Inertia Properties of a Manipulator Payload for 0-g Emulation of Spacecraft

“…An emulation of 0g translational motion can be achieved by an air-bearing table on which a spacecraft can move on a surface perpendicular to the gravity vector while being floated on a cushion of compressed air with almost no resistance. This technique has been used for testing various space systems such as formation flying (Corrazzini et al 19961 Choset and Kortenkamp 1999), free-flying space robots (Schubert and How 19971 Yoshida 2003), orbital rendezvous and docking (Matunaga et al 2000), capturing mechanisms of spacecraft (Kawamoto et al 2001), and free-flying inspection vehicles (Choset and Kortenkamp 1999). Although the air-bearing table system can be utilized to test some physical components of spacecraft control systems including the sensors and actuators, this system is limited to a two-dimensional planar environment.…”