Experimental campaign on the sensor package for a smart capture tool

Abstract

In-Orbit-Assembly missions open several opportunities such as the construction of large antennas or other assets in space. To this aim, space robots have been identified as one of the most promising systems to perform assembly tasks. They requie enabling technologies like interfaces, proximity sensors, and actuators in order to handle and move the building blocks (Elementary Assembly Units, EAUs) of the larger structure. Typically, the sensors and the capture tool of the robotic arm are managed by the main computer of the space robot and are specific for a determined architecture of the manipulator. This work11This work was partially funded by Università degli Studi di Padova in the framework of the BIRD 2021 programme (BRAN_BIRD2121_01). considers a new type of capture tool which is autonomous from the space robot and able to manage the EAU from the capture to the moving and assembly in the structure. To this aim, the proposed system (SMArt Capture Kit, SMACK) is equipped with three types of sensors and a gripper-like capture tool. They are managed by a decentralised computer that executes estimation and guidance algorithms in order to drive a robotic arm to capture and assembly the EAU. The paper will focus on the description of the sensors and on the estimation algorithm. It has been described and tested in order to verify its performances.