Abstract
Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) requires many resources such as time and crew workload to prepare and execute. Against this background, robots which can support astronauts during activity are expected to be effective in increasing efficiency of EVA. As a way of realizing that kind of EVA support, a novel method for using an attachable manipulator to assist astronauts is proposed. The manipulator can be mounted to EVA suits and work as if it were "the third arm" of an astronaut. Alternatively, that is also possible to be attached to handrails on the outer wall of International Space Station (ISS) and can be operated remotely. Although the manipulator doesn't have locomotive function and can't move itself, that is capable to be carried by an astronaut easily because of the simple and space-saving properties. In this paper, development status of an arm component of the manipulator is reported.
