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Robotic Gripper for Payload Capture in Low Earth Orbit

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Abstract

The consensus to a study phase for an Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV) successor, a preoperational vehicle called Space Reusable Integrated Demonstrator for European Return (SPACE RIDER), has been recently enlarged, as approved during last EU Ministerial Council. One of the main project tasks consists in developing SPACE RIDER to conduct on orbit servicing activity with no docking. SPACE RIDER would be provided with a robotic manipulator system (arm and gripper) able to transfer cargos, such as scientific payloads, from low Earth orbiting platforms to the SPACE RIDER cargo bay. The platform is a part of a space tug designed to move small satellites and other payloads from Low Earth Orbit to Geosynchronous Equatorial Orbit and vice versa. A study on this robotic technology is here presented. This research is carried out by Politecnico di Torino and Thales Alenia Space Italy. The system configuration of the robotic manipulator is first described in terms of volumes and masses. The considered housing cargo bay requirements in terms of volume (< 100 l) and mass (< 50 kg) combined with the required overall arm dimensions (4 m length), and mass of the cargo (5–30 kg) force to developing an innovative robotic manipulator with the task-oriented end-effector. It results in a 7df arm to ensure a high degree of dexterity and a dedicated end-effector designed to grasp the cargo interface. The gripper concept here developed consists in a multi-finger hand able to lock both translational and rotational cargo degrees of freedom through an innovative under-actuation strategy to limit its mass and volume. A configuration study on the cargo handle interface has also been performed together with some computer-aided design models and multibody analysis of the whole system to prove its feasibility. Finally, the concept of system control architecture is defined.

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Abbreviations

l 0 :

Linear actuator motion variable

l 1 :

Medial beam length

l 2 :

L-shape beam length

s 1 :

Medial beam arc length

s 2 :

L-shape beam arc length

ϑ 1 :

Medial beam angle variation

ϑ 2 :

L-shape beam angle variation

ϑ or :

Out-of-plane rotation error

ϑ ir :

In-plane rotation error

ϑ n :

Nominal camera field of view

\( \vartheta_{n}^{\prime } \) :

Modified nominal camera field of view

x 0 :

State vector camera position

σ :

State vector camera position errors

\( \phi_{x} \) :

Attitude angle related to the x-axis

\( \phi_{y} \) :

Attitude angle related to the y-axis

\( \phi_{z} \) :

Attitude angle related to the z-axis

p b :

Operational space vector linear velocities

ω b :

Operational space vector angular velocities

x b :

State vector of the base

q :

Joint vector of the arm

H b :

Inertia matrix of the base body

H m :

Inertia matrix of the manipulator arm

H bm :

Matrix that takes in account the coupling between base and arm

c b :

Non-linear velocity dependent term of the base body

c m :

Non-linear velocity dependent term of the arm

F b :

External forces/moments acting on the base

F h :

External forces/moments acting on the end-effector of the arm

τ:

Joint torque vector on the arm

J b :

Jacobian matrix dependent on the base body motion

J m :

Jacobian matrix dependent on the arm motion

ADCS:

Attitude determination and control system

BLDC:

Brushless direct current motor

CCD:

Charge-coupled device

CSA:

Canada Space Agency

ESA:

European Space Agency

EVA:

Extra vehicular activity

GEO:

Geosynchronous Equatorial orbit

IXV:

Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle

JEMRMS:

Japanese Experiment Module Remote Manipulator System

LEO:

Low Earth Orbit

NASA:

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

P/L :

Payload

RV:

Rendezvous

RV&D:

Rendezvous and Docking

SAPERE:

Space advanced project excellence in research and enterprise

SARAH:

Self adaptive robotic auxiliary hand

SFA:

Small fine arm

SPACE RIDER:

Space rider reusable integrated demonstrator for European return

SRMS:

Space shuttle remote manipulator system

STRONG:

System technology and research national global operations

TRL:

Technology readiness level

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Acknowledgements

This research was carried out at Politecnico di Torino and Thales Alenia Space Italy, under SAPERE and STRONG projects. These projects are under a contract with the Italian Ministry of Education, Research and University. Copyright 2016. All rights reserved.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, 24, 10129, Turin, Italy

    Genta Giancarlo & Dolci Marco

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  1. Genta Giancarlo
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  2. Dolci Marco
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Correspondence to Dolci Marco.

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Giancarlo, G., Marco, D. Robotic Gripper for Payload Capture in Low Earth Orbit. Adv. Astronaut. Sci. Technol. 1, 167–182 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42423-018-0028-y

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