Study on the simulation of the spacecraft's inertia and mass properties of a novel docking dynamics test bed

A special double barbell simulator (DBS) is proposed to simulate the inertia and mass properties of spacecraft in a novel ground docking dynamics test bed. With the DBS, the test bed can accurately simulate the docking process to study the capturing and buffering capabilities of the docking mechanism. By adjusting the DBS's parameters such as barbell mass and length, the simulator can simulate different spacecraft inertia and mass properties, so the test bed can simulate different spacecraft docking processes. This paper presents the configuration of the DBS and its layout on the test bed, discusses the simulator parameters and adjusting method, and formulates a mathematical model. An example is included to demonstrate the application of the DBS. It is shown that the simulator is convenient and accurate to simulate different spacecraft inertia and mass properties, and the inertia error is less than 0.006 percent.