Stochastic Models and Control of Anchoring Mechanisms for Grasping in Microgravity

Abstract

Robots equipped with anchoring mechanisms have attractive applications in asteroid exploration. However, complex application scenarios bring great challenges to the modeling and control of anchoring mechanisms. This paper presents a grasping model and control method for an anchoring mechanism for asteroid exploration. First, the structure of the anchoring mechanism is demonstrated. Second, stochastic grasping models based on surface properties are established. The effectiveness of the grasping model is verified by experiments. A stiffness-modeling method of the microspine is proposed. On this basis, the stochastic grasping model of the anchoring mechanism is established, and the grasping cloud diagram of the anchoring mechanism is drawn. Third, in order to reduce the collision force between the anchor mechanism and the asteroid surface, a control method for the anchoring mechanism in the movement process is proposed based on the motion mode of the asteroid-exploration robot. Finally, a prototype is developed, and the experimental results validate the motion ability of the robot and the control method.

RAMP: Reaction-Aware Motion Planning of Multi-Legged Robots for Locomotion in Microgravity

“…As an example of multi-legged robots for microgravity locomotion, we have the LEMUR series developed by NASA JPL, where the latest version can have microspine grippers for rough surfaces of SSSBs, or gecko-inspired adhesive grippers for smooth surfaces in the ISS [15]. A similar robot with microspines was also proposed, including stochastic grasping modelling [16]. Another example is ReachBot, which includes extendable limbs to improve the reachability of a compact designed robot [17].…”