Design of an Automatic Autonomous Mini Prone-cone Microsatellite Docking Mechanism

The capability of docking, refueling, repairing, and updating microsatellites using automatic autonomous vehicles will be of significance critical value for design and operation of several space systems in the near feature. Automatic docking capability was successfully tested by many institutions such as National Space Development Agency in Japan, European Space Agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration in USA, etc. However, there is still much more space for improvement of degree of automation during the process of docking with large deviations of the initial attitude. A novel automatic autonomous probe-cone docking mechanism used for microsatellite docking is proposed. This docking mechanism is designed according to the design indices such as miniaturization, degree of automation and automatic capture capability within large deviation of the initial attitude. On the basis of the virtual work principle, the dynamics modeling of the docking process is presented. The position of the contact point is then analyzed. Comprehensive system level simulation is conducted in the 13 kinds of typical operating conditions with the initial deviations. Capture performance is analyzed. The simulation results show that the docking mechanism can be smoothly captured within 2 s in all cases of large attitude deviation between the active and passive spacecrafts. A virtual prototype model of the docking mechanism is established through ADAMS for further verifying the correctness of the buffer parameter model and the autonomous docking capability. A laboratory platform is designed for on-the-ground experimental validation of the property of mini probe-cone docking mechanism. Repeated docking tests prove the proposed design of the mini probe-cone docking mechanism system for its high reliability, and automatic capture capability within large attitude range. The kinetic model of the docking capture process and the mechanism structure could provide some references for similar mechanism design of in-orbit spacecraft.

Forward-Kinematics-Based Approaches for Pose Accuracy of Docking Mechanism with Joint Clearance

Joint clearance,as an important stochastic factor,can significantly deteriorate positioning and repeatability accuracies and lower assembly quality of a 6-DOF docking mechanism.Considering pose accuracy with traditional error model that possesses inherent imprecision,both probabilistic and deterministic approaches based on forward kinematics are presented to analyze comprehensive pose error(CPE)in simulation.Results indicate an identical trend emerges for each CPE with both approaches,and both CPEs perform opposite variations as the moving platform upgrades.The findings provide theoretical reference for refinement of assembly quality evaluation of this mechanism.

Use of Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking to Investigate the Mechanism by Which Ginseng Ameliorates Hypoxia

Hypoxia is a common pathological process in various clinical diseases and is characterized by abnormal changes in metabolism, function, and morphological structure of tissues resulting from insufficient oxygen supply or oxygen barriers in tissues. In particular, hypoxia in vital organs such as the brain and heart is an important cause of death;. The prevention of tissue hypoxia and the

Design Schemes and Comparison Research of the End-effector of Large Space Manipulator

The end-effector of the large space manipulator is employed to assist the manipulator in handling and manipulating large payloads on orbit.Currently,there are few researches about the end-effector,and the existing end-effectors have some disadvantages,such as poor misalignment tolerance capability and complex mechanical components.According to the end positioning errors and the residual vibration characters of the large space manipulators,two basic performance requirements of the end-effector which include the capabilities of misalignment tolerance and soft capture are proposed.And the end-effector should accommodate the following misalignments of the mechanical interface.The translation misalignments in axial and radial directions and the angular misalignments in roll,pitch and yaw are ±100 mm,100 mm,±10°,±15°,±15°,respectively.Seven end-effector schemes are presented and the capabilities of misalignment tolerance and soft capture are analyzed elementarily.The three fingers-three petals end-effector and the steel cable-snared end-effector are the most feasible schemes among the seven schemes,and they are designed in detail.The capabilities of misalignment tolerance and soft capture are validated and evaluated,through the experiment on the micro-gravity simulating device and the dynamic analysis in ADAMS software.The results show that the misalignment tolerance capabilities of these two schemes could satisfy the requirement.And the translation misalignment tolerances in axial and radial directions and the angular misalignment tolerances in roll,pitch and yaw of the steel cable-snared end-effector are 30mm,15mm,6°,3° and 3° larger than those of the three fingers-three petals end-effector,respectively.And the contact force of the steel cable-snared end-effector is smaller and smoother than that of the three fingers-three petals end-effector.The end-effector schemes and research methods are beneficial to the developments of the large space manipulator end-effctor and the space docking mechanism.