Time-Optimal Manipulator Control for Management of Angular Momentum Distribution during the Capture of a Tumbling Target

This paper deals with management problems of angular momentum distribution during the capture of a tumbling target by a free-floating space robot with constraints on the torque and angular momentum that the reaction wheels of the robot are able to output to suppress rotational motion of the robot base. A time-optimal control of the manipulator arm during the approaching phase of the capturing mission and an estimation method to minimize the base rotation after the manipulator captures the tumbling target are proposed in order to realize desirable angular momentum distribution of the entire system. The proposed strategy is verified by numerical simulation with a free-floating space robot model equipped with a 7-d.o.f. manipulator and a system of three reaction wheels. (C) Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and The Robotics Society of Japan, 2010