228 Active Damping Control on Vibration Isolation System of Centrifuge Rotor

Abstract

In this paper, the vibration isolation control of the Centrifuge Rotor (CR) is discussed. CR is the rotating equipment for providing artificial gravity in the International Space Station (ISS). CR is the biggest item of mechanical equipment in ISS; CR has a weight of 2t and the diameter of the rotor is 2.5m. CR is scheduled to be launched in 2006 and NASA plans to utilize it for life science experiments conducted during a 10-year period. In order to provide precise gravity environment, it is required that CR has high vibration isolation performance; for that purpose, CR is equipped with vibration isolation mechanism (VIM). VIM consists of pivot-type springs and active dampers, and it provides 0.1 Hz of cut-off frequency for the vibration isolation.