Abstract
In order to conduct in-orbit servicing using space robots, we propose and develop a function distributed reconfigurable arm system for robot satellites. The arm can make a rearrangement between its upper 3DOF part and lower 2DOF part. This reconfigurability makes it possible to perform various in-orbit services by changing its configuration. Technical issues of reconfiguration are including end-effector mechanism, communications subsystem and power subsystem. For extemal sensors to obtain relative position and attitude information between satellites in order to perform reconfiguration autonomously, we examine CCD camera and PSD. Outline of the arm system and a fundamental reconfiguration experiment are shown in the paper.
