A CONTACT DYNAMICS ANALYSIS OF SPACECRAFT CAPTURING AND RIGIDIZING

A space robotic manipulator operated practically in orbit, for example, Space Station Remote manipulator System (SSRMS), Shuttle RMS (SRMS), has a similar end-effector (EE) to capture a specified captured interface called Grapple Fixture (GF). The Japan Experimental Module Remote Manipulator System (JEMRMS) has a same EE. Therefore, dynamics analysis of capturing operation using space robotic manipulator and its EE considering a contact dynamics between a manipulator and a target objective is very important for future missions applying RMS in orbit. We focus the contact dynamics of EE and GF in order to analyze a behavior of space robotic manipulator and a captured object, and set up a high-fidelity numerical simulation model and a ground simulator that using an industrial manipulator (6-DOF) and 6-axis force/torque sensor. In this paper we assumed the target object is a large spacecraft that weights approximately 1300kg similar to HII-A Transfer Vehicle (HTV). We will report results of dynamics simulation and experiment to measuring a constraint condition of the objective spacecraft captured by EE