Experimental Platform of Space Robot Grasping Various Nonprehensile Targets

Abstract:
Active debris removal is regarded as a necessary mission for protecting space environment in the long-term. For simulating free-flying space robots to grasp space targets, a novel experimental platform is developed in the laboratory condition. Its main superiority reflects in its simplicity, extendibility and modular design. And the three subsystems of the platform: the structure system, pneumatic system, and electronic system are introduced in detail. According to the current literature, we found the definition of the non-cooperative targets is not precise enough. Thus, a subdivision of noncooperative targets into prehensile and non-prehensile targets is proposed, where the non-prehensile target means the target does not have prehensile handles and cannot be grasped by mechanical grippers. Based on the caging-based grasping method, several caging-based end-effectors are fabricated to grasp non-prehensile targets. And the corresponding caging experiments are conducted to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.