Abstract
This paper presents an experimental study on a control problem of a space manipulator installed on a free-flying telerobot. The authors' main goal is to develop a control method for dexterous operation of telerobot, with considering the dynamical interaction between the manipulator arm and the base satellite in space micro-gravity environment. In order to control space free-flying manipulators, the generalized Jacobian matrix is introduced. By substituting the conventional Jacobian for this matrix, conventional control methods for ground-fixed manipulators is directly applicable for space manipulators. In order to simulate the free-flying behavior of mechanical links in micro-gravity environment, a laboratory model of space telerobot supported on air bearings is developed. An on-line resolved motion-rate control scheme with vision feedback is proposed for experimenting target capture operation, by means of the generalized Jacobian matrix. The telerobot model can properly chase and capture both a standing target and a moving target in spite of complex satellite/manipulator dynamical interaction. The experimental results confirm the validity of the generalized Jacobian concept and proposed control method.
