Haptic Assisted Virtual Tele-Operation of Robotic Manipulator for Smooth Space Debris Capturing

Abstract

There are a number of challenges in space exploration missions and a growing challenge is the economic and efficient removal of space debris. A number of methods have been studied in literature to remove space debris which increase rapidly. This paper presents a novel method for capturing a targeted space debris in space using a robot with redundant degrees of freedom enabled with the assistance of haptic guidance. The proposed method features transferring a null reaction torque to the base spacecraft during the operation. The robot and the endeffector is controlled and manipulated by an operator with the assistance of a haptic guidance based controller that makes the position and velocity errors converge to zero before reaching the target at a desired velocity. The proposed method is demonstrated by means of dynamic and graphic simulations using a haptic interface to drive the robot. These simulations have shown a satisfactory performance in capturing the target space debris by showing a spacecraft can be maintained stable as null reaction torque is transferred during the rendezvous and interaction between the robot and the space debris. The haptic guidance method implemented in a dynamic controller enabled an operator to perform planned tasks, whilst it still allowed a full control of the robotic manipulator by the human operator. This shows great advantages comparing to the current approaches for capturing target, where haptic assistance is not introduced or the path control is not dynamic.