Impact analysis and post-impact motion control issues of a free-floating space robot contacting a tumbling object

Abstract

This work is an extension of the authors' previous result (1995), mainly to tackle the post-impact control problem. We focus on the specific case of a nonredundant arm and a reaction null space in terms of base angular motion. It is shown that with proper post-impact manipulator control it is possible to swiftly transfer the whole angular momentum from the base toward the manipulator, and in the same time to reduce the joint velocity.