Inertia Parameter Identification of a Free-Flying Space Robot

Abstract

This paper presents the identification of inertia parameters, such as mass, moment of inertia and product of inertia, of a free-flying space robot. Making use of the law of momentum conservation, an identification algorithm which does not require torque or acceleration measurment is developed. Gravity gradient torques are also used to identify the product of inertia. The algorithm is verified with the flight data obtained by the ETS-VII, Japanese space robot.