Auto-laydown robot for space solar module

Abstract

SUMMARY This paper discusses about auto-laydown robot (ALR), which is applied to performing the laydown process of a solar module on earth. The robot consists of an adhesive dispensing mechanism, an auto-laydown mechanism, a pneumatic system and a control system. The method of gripping solar cells is described based on pneumatic technology. Meanwhile, a new method of controlling adhesive thickness and area during dispensing is proposed in this paper. The robot realizes the automatic laydown process of solar modules and can control the laydown pressure effectively. Compared with the manual method, the robot could control the dispensing volume and the adhesive area between solar modules and panel substrates, by means of experiments. The novel ALR greatly improves the laydown quality of solar modules and meets the lightweight trend of solar cells development.