STRUCTURAL FLEXIBILITY OF MOTION SYSTEMS IN THE SPACE ENVIRONMENT

The state-of-the-art, focus on interdisciplinary approaches and positions are summarized, and a kaleidoscope of future directions in the design, analysis and control of lightweight robotic and telerobotic motions systems for space application is provided. The emphasis is on providing a logical connection between the special demands of space applications and the design of the motion system. Flexibility is presented as a natural consequence of these demands. A number of technologies are relevant to extending feasible performance into regions of the design space previously avoided due to the resulting flexibility of the structures and drives. Control technology is considered foremost in the paper, but passive damping, structural materials, structural design, operational strategy and sensor technology are closely related. Numerous references are presented for the reader wishing to employ these technologies, but the details of those papers cannot be presented in a paper of this breadth.