A space robot manipulator system: designed for capture

Abstract

The paper describes a space robot hand arm system designed for non-cooperative object capture. According to analysis on the characteristics of non-cooperative target capture on-orbit, a three fingers end-effector was designed. The detailed design of a modular space manipulator joint was described. To meet the nice performance of hand arm system in space applications, a communication and computing embedded systems was designed. We established an experimental platform in library for single joint test, with that proved the joint had enough precision, speed, and torque performance. At the same time, we constructed an experimental system for manipulator on air-bearing table, with that proved the manipulator had nice location precision. Experimental results showed that the hand arm system was able to meet the needs of the on-orbit application.