Reconfigurable Space Manipulator for In-Orbit Servicing

Abstract

Recently the construction of the International Space Station (ISS) has begun and the Space Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS) and the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) are used for the construction. These manipulators are operated by onboard crews and accomplish the tasks that cannot be done by human hands, such as the transportation of the large and heavy objects. Although these manipulators are useful for these kinds of tasks, there are plenty of needs to use more advanced manipulator systems for in-orbit servicing applications such as unmanned orbital service robots and Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) support robots. There are also a lot of challenging technologies to realize such applications effectively. Thus we have been doing research on technologies for the next generation in-orbit servicing robot systems. The Reconfigurable Space Manipulator (RSM) is the one of the results from our research. The manipulator is designed to apply for various space applications. This paper presents the task analysis results for the next generation in-orbit servicing robots, the system concept of the Reconfigurable Space Manipulator and some system design results for the manipulator.