Control of free-flying space robot manipulator systems

摘要

This document reports on the work done under NASA Cooperative Agreement NCC2-333 during the period March 1990 through August 1991. The research was carried out by a team of five Ph.D. candidate students from the Stanford University Aerospace Robotics Laboratory under the direction of Professor Robert H. Cannon, Jr. The goal of this research is to develop and test experimentally new control techniques for self-contained, autonomous free-flying space robots. Free-flying space robots are envisioned as a key element of any successful long term presence in space. These robots must be capable of performing the assembly, maintenance, inspection, and repair tasks that currently require astronaut extravehicular activity (EVA). Use of robots will provide economic savings as well as improved astronaut safety by reducing and in many cases eliminating the need for human EVA. The focus of our work is to develop and carry out a set of research projects using laboratory models of satellite robots and a flexible manipulator. The second generation space robot models use air-cushion-vehicle (ACV) technology to simulate in two dimensions the drag-free, zero-g conditions of space.