Interaction Between Motions of Robotic Manipulator Arms and the Non-Fixed Base in On-Orbit Operations

The objective of this paper is to study the problem of the robotic manipulator operating on a non-fixed base by considering two dynamics scenarios. One in which the base is free to react in response to the robotic manipulator motion and the other in which the robotic manipulator moves its links in such a way to compensate the reaction forces on the platform so as to keep it stable. This approach is passive in the sense that no additional control effort has to be done to compensate the effects of the reaction forces on the platform. The methodology to approach the problem includes lab experiments aiming the dynamics analysis of a robotic manipulator operating on an ice platform on a glass table. The mathematical model of a satellite like a robotic manipulator is developed and then implemented in a computer by using the Matlab software environment. The results of the computer simulations confirm that the control effort for the attitude control is larger for the case in which the links are in operation compared to the case in which the robotic manipulator is not working. For the passive case, the results confirm the attitude stability of the robotic manipulator platform when it is working. The passive case is that in which the robotic manipulator links are moving in a synchronized configuration and in a reverse sense.