Hand-eye servo and impedance control for manipulator arm to capture target satellite safely. Issue 4 (May 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ma, Gan; Jiang, Zhihong; Li, Hui; Gao, Junyao; Yu, Zhangguo; Chen, Xuechao; Liu, Yun-Hui; Huang, Qiang
• Is Part Of: Robotica. Volume 33:Issue 4(2015)
• Page Start: 848
• Page End: 864
• Publication Date: 2015-05
• Subjects: Robots -- Periodicals; 629.89205
• DOI: 10.1017/S0263574714000587
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0263-5747

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="normal"> <title>SUMMARY</title> <p>A crucial problem is the risk that a manipulator arm would be damaged by twisting or bending during and after contacting a target satellite. This paper presents a solution to minimize the risk of damage to the arm and thereby enhance contact performance. First, a hand-eye servo controller is proposed as a method for accurately tracking and capturing a target satellite. Next, a motion planning strategy is employed to obtain the best-fit contacting moments. Also, an impedance control law is implemented to increase protection during operation and to ensure more accurate compliance. Finally, to overcome the challenge of verifying algorithms for a space manipulator while on the ground, a novel experimental system with a 6-DOF (degree of freedom) manipulator on a chaser field robot is presented and implemented to capture a target field robot; the proposed methods are then validated using the experimental platform.</p> </abstract>