ETS-VII, space robot in-orbit experiment satellite

Abstract

National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) is to launch an engineering test satellite named ETS-VII in the year 1997 to develop and perform in-orbit test of rendezvous docking and Space robot technologies. ETS-VII's robot experiment includes (a) performance evaluation of satellite mounted robot system, (b) coordinated control of satellite attitude and robot arm, (c) teleoperation of the satellite mounted robot arm, (d) demonstration of in-orbit satellite serving. The ETS-VII satellite carries a robot arm of 2 m long and 6 dof which will be teleoperated from a ground control station. This paper shows mission, design and development status of ETS-VII space robot experiment mission.