Autonomous capture of a tumbling satellite

Abstract

In this paper, we describe a framework for the autonomous capture and servicing of satellites. The work is based on laboratory experiments that illustrate the autonomy and remote‐operation aspects. The satellite‐capture problem is representative of most on‐orbit robotic manipulation tasks where the environment is known and structured, but it is dynamic since the satellite to be captured is in free flight. Bandwidth limitations and communication dropouts dominate the quality of the communication link. The satellite‐servicing scenario is implemented on a robotic test‐bed in laboratory settings. The communication aspects were validated in transatlantic tests. © 2007 Canadian Space Agency

On-orbit cooperating space robotic servicers handling a passive object

“…where K rPi and K rDi are control gain diagonal matrices, while e r_i = r i,d − r i is the error between the desired position of the servicer r i,d and the actual position r i , defined in (2). When the direction of s i , defined in (17), lays in the no-thrusting area, and depending on the sign of the F mb,i component along the direction of s i , the need for the repulsive force f ij_r is decided.…”

“…The first step in the handling procedure is to securely grasp the passive object-a task called docking. Studies in this field have provided several theoretical approaches [2,3], some of which resulted in experimental servicers [4,5]. However, actual handling of a captured passive object has not been studied adequately, and issues, such as large object handling, remain open.…”

A non-linear model predictive controller with obstacle avoidance for a space robot

“…Examples include "Robot Technology Experiment (ROTEX)" (Hirzinger et al, 1994), "Engineering Test Satellite VII (ETS-VII)" (Oda et al, 1996) and "Orbital Express (OE)" (Ogilvie et al, 2008). In light of the space robots currently planned by world wide space agencies, an increase in the number and capacity of the robots applied in space missions will be a foregone conclusion in the coming future (Rekleitis et al, 2007).…”

Prediction Error Based Adaptive Jacobian Tracking for Free-Floating Space Manipulators

“…arises when the space robot manipulates an unknown target. Typical tasks are the capture of a noncooperative tumbling spacecraft [35], precise transferring of the astronauts, robotic rendezvous and docking as conducted in ETS-VII and Orbital Express projects [33,36,37], and component assembly and construction for ISS (International Space Station). In these tasks the space manipulator encounters both the kinematic and dynamic uncertainties.…”