Hand-eye servo and impedance control for manipulator arm to capture target satellite safely

SUMMARY 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.