抄録
We describe in this paper a ground based hardware simulation system for emulating a space robot under microgravity condition. The manipulator of the robot is suspended by wires which are kept in vertical direction by suspension arms that follow the motion of the manipulator in real-time.The base of the robot is supported by a six-DOF (degree-of-freedom) mechanism. Free floating emulation is achieved by using a real-time numerical integration of the dynamic and kinematic equations of the manipulator. The gravitational force on the manipulator is compensated by a combination of the force on the base as applied by the six-DOF mechanism and the upward tensile force which is exerted through the wires. By optimizing the manipulator suspension method, the individual wire tensions are kept constant, independent of the manipulator attitude. Experiments show that the Micro-G emulation system is precise enough to emulate three-dimensional motion of a space robot, in a microgravity environment under condition of only 0.28 × 10-2 [G] .
