Spatial Operator Algebra for Free-floating Space Robot Modeling and Simulation

As the dynamic equations of space robots are highly nonlinear,strongly coupled and nonholonomic constrained,the efficiency of current dynamic modeling algorithms is difficult to meet the requirements of real-time simulation.This paper combines an efficient spatial operator algebra（SOA） algorithm for base fixed robots with the conservation of linear and angular momentum theory to establish dynamic equations for the free-floating space robot,and analyzes the influence to the base body＇s position and posture when the manipulator is capturing a target.The recursive Newton-Euler kinematic equations on screw form for the space robot are derived,and the techniques of the sequential filtering and smoothing methods in optimal estimation theory are used to derive an innovation factorization and inverse of the generalized mass matrix which immediately achieve high computational efficiency.The high efficient SOA algorithm is spatially recursive and has a simple math expression and a clear physical understanding,and its computational complexity grows only linearly with the number of degrees of freedom.Finally,a space robot with three degrees of freedom manipulator is simulated in Matematica 6.0.Compared with ADAMS,the simulation reveals that the SOA algorithm is much more efficient to solve the forward and inverse dynamic problems.As a result,the requirements of real-time simulation for dynamics of free-floating space robot are solved and a new analytic modeling system is established for free-floating space robot.

Singular perturbation composite control of a free-floating flexible dual-arm space robot

The Free-floating Flexible Dual-arm Space Robot is a highly nonlinear and coupled dynamics system. In this paper, the dynamic model is derived of a Free-floating Flexible Dual-arm Space Robot holding a rigid payload. Furthermore, according to the singular perturbation method, the system is separated into a slow subsystem representing rigid body motion of the robot and a fast subsystem representing the flexible link dynamics. For the slow subsystem, based on the second method of Lyapunov, using simple quantitative bounds on the model uncertainties, a robust tracking controller design is used during the trajectory tracking phase. The optimal control method is designed in the fast subsystem to guarantee the exponential stability. With the combination of the two above, the system can track the expected trajectory accurately, even though with uncertainty in model parameters, and its flexible vibration gets suppressed, too. Finally, some simulation tests have been conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

Reorientation and obstacle avoidance control of free-floating modular robots using sinusoidal oscillator

This paper presents that a serpentine curve-based controller can solve locomotion control problems for articulated space robots with extensive flight phases,such as obstacle avoidance during free floating or attitude adjustment before landing.The proposed algorithm achieves articulated robots to use closed paths in the joint space to accomplish the above tasks.Flying snakes,which can shuttle through gaps and adjust their landing posture by swinging their body during gliding in jungle environments,inspired the design of two maneuvers.The first maneuver generates a rotation of the system by varying the moment of inertia between the joints of the robot,with the magnitude of the net rotation depending on the controller parameters.This maneuver can be repeated to allow the robot to reach arbitrary reorientation.The second maneuver involves periodic undulations,allowing the robot to avoid collisions when the trajectory of the global Center of Mass(CM)passes through the obstacle.Both maneuvers are based on the improved serpenoid curve,which can adapt to redundant systems consisting of different numbers of modules.Finally,the simulation illustrates that combining the two maneuvers can help a free-floating chain-type robot traverse complex environments.Our proposed algorithm can be used with similar articulated robot models.

Motion planning for redundant prismatic-jointed manipulators in the free-floating mode

This paper investigates the motion planning of redundant free-floating manipulators with seven prismatic joints. On the earth, prismatic-jointed manipulators could only position their end-effectors in a desired way. However, in space, the end-effectors of free-floating manipulators can achieve both the desired orientation and desired position due to the dynamical coupling between manipulator and satellite movement, which is formally expressed by linear and angular momentum conservation laws. In this study, a tractable algorithm particle swarm optimization combined with differential evolution （PSODE） is provided to deal with the motion planning of redundant free-floating prismatic-jointed manipulators, which could avoid the pseudo inverse of the Jacobian matrix. The polynomial functions, as argument in sine functions are used to specify the joint paths. The co- efficients of the polynomials are optimized to achieve the desired end-effector orientation and position, and simulta- neously minimize the unit-mass-kinetic energy using the redundancy. Relevant simulations prove that this method pro- vides satisfactory smooth paths for redundant free-floating prismatic-jointed manipulators. This study could help to recognize the advantages of redundant prismatic-jointed space manipulators.

Task space control of free-floating space robots using constrained adaptive RBF-NTSM

Trajectory tracking control of space robots in task space is of great importance to space missions, which require on-orbit manipulations. This paper focuses on position and attitude tracking control of a tree-floating space robot in task space. Since nei- ther the nonlinear terms and parametric uncertainties of the dynamic model, nor the external disturbances are known, an adap- tive radial basis function network based nonsingular terminal sliding mode （RBF-NTSM） control method is presented. The proposed algorithm combines the nonlinear sliding manifold with the radial basis function to improve control performance. Moreover, in order to account for actuator physical constraints, a constrained adaptive RBF-NTSM, which employs a RBF network to compensate for the limited input is developed. The adaptive updating laws acquired by Lyapunov approach guar- antee the global stability of the control system and suppress chattering problems. Two examples are provided using a six-link free-floating space robot. Simulation results clearly demonstrate that the proposed constrained adaptive RBF-NTSM control method performs high precision task based on incomplete dynamic model of the space robots. In addition, the control errors converge faster and the chattering is eliminated comparing to traditional sliding mode control.

Path planning of a free-floating space robot based on the degree of controllability

An effective and more efficient path planning algorithm is developed for a kinematically non-redundant free-floating space robot(FFSR) system by proposing a concept of degree of controllability(DOC) for underactuated systems. The DOC concept is proposed for making full use of the internal couplings and then achieving a better control effect, followed by a certain definition of controllability measurement which measures the DOC, based on obtaining an explicit and finite equivalent affine system and singular value decomposition. A simple method for nilpotent approximation of the Lie algebra generated by the FFSR system is put forward by direct Taylor expansion when obtaining the equivalent system. Afterwards, a large-controlla- bility-measurement(LCM) nominal path is searched by a weighted A* algorithm, and an optimal self-correcting method is designed to track the nominal path approximately, yielding an efficient underactuated path. The proposed strategy successfully avoids the drawback of inefficiency inherent in previous path-planning schemes, which is due to the neglect of internal couplings, and illustrative numerical examples show its efficacy.

Trajectory planning and base attitude restoration of dual-arm free-floating space robot by enhanced bidirectional approach

When free-floating space robots perform space tasks,the satellite base attitude is disturbed by the dynamic coupling.The disturbance of the base orientation may affect the communication between the space robot and the control center on earth.In this paper,the enhanced bidirectional approach is proposed to plan the manipulator trajectory and eliminate the final base attitude variation.A novel acceleration level state equation for the nonholonomic problem is proposed,and a new intermediate variable-based Lyapunov function is derived and solved for smooth joint trajectory and restorable base trajectories.In the method,the state equation is first proposed for dual-arm robots with and without end constraints,and the system stability is analyzed to obtain the system input.The input modification further increases the system stability and simplifies the calculation complexity.Simulations are carried out in the end,and the proposed method is validated in minimizing final base attitude change and trajectory smoothness.Moreover,the minute internal force during the coordinated operation and the considerable computing efficiency increases the feasibility of the method during space tasks.

Detumbling strategy based on friction control of dual-arm space robot for capturing tumbling target

The rotational motion of a tumbling target brings great challenges to space robot on successfully capturing the tumbling target.Therefore,it is necessary to reduce the target's rotation to a rate at which capture can be accomplished by the space robot.In this paper,a detumbling strategy based on friction control of dual-arm space robot for capturing tumbling target is proposed.This strategy can reduce the target's rotational velocity while maintaining base attitude stability through the establishment of the rotation attenuation controller and base attitude adjustment controller.The rotation attenuation controller adopts the multi-space hybrid impedance control method to control the friction precisely.The base attitude adjustment controller applies the dual-arm extended Jacobian matrix to stabilize the base attitude.The main contributions of this paper are as follows:(1)The compliant control method is adopted to achieve a precise friction control,which can reduce the target angular velocity steadily;(2)The dual-arm extended Jacobian matrix is applied to stabilize the base attitude without affecting the target capture task;(3)The detumbling strategy of dualarm space robot is designed considering base attitude stabilization,realizing coordinated planning of the base attitude and the arms.The strategy is verified by a dual-arm space robot with two 7-DOF(degrees of freedom)arms.Simulation results show that,target with a rotation velocity of 20(°)/s can be effectively controlled to stop within 30 s,and the final deflection of the base attitude is less than 0.15°without affecting the target capture task,verifying the correctness and effectiveness of the strategy.Except to the tumbling target capture task,the control strategy can also be applied to other typical on-orbit operation tasks such as space debris removal and spacecraft maintenance.