Requirements development for a free-flying robot--The " Robin"

Abstract

One of the major functions of the Space Station will be to service satellites, including in-situ work on satellites orbiting at a considerable distance from the station. A Space Station orbital maneuvering vehicle (OMV) will perform many of the servicing tasks, particularly changeout of satellites' orbital replacement units (ORU's). This paper describes the initial conceptual development of a robot to transfer ORU's from the station to a distant OMV engaged in satellite servicing. To this end, a generic satellite ORU is defined on the basis of a survey of present and future satellite electronic equipment. OMV capabilities and interfaces with the generic ORU are identified. A scenario is devised to describe the transfer of the ORU to the OMV, and robot design requirements are identified for the task.