Dynamics and simulation of a space robot in a gravitational field

Abstract

In this paper, three dynamical models of a two link space robot are developed. One model treats the gravitational field as constant over the volume of the robot and another model uses 0th order Taylor series expansions of a continuous gravitational field over the volume of the robot. A third model neglects the effects of gravity. The three models are then simulated in a free-fall condition. The simulations show that the gravitational forces on a space robot are significant enough such that they should not be neglected from the dynamical model.