The SPDM Task Verification Facility: On the Dynamic Emulation in One-g Environment using Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation

Abstract

To verify all robotic tasks involving a space robot interacting with environment, such as the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM), one should appeal to a simulation technique because the space robot cannot operate in an 1-g environment. However, to simulate dynamical behavior of a robot interacting with environment creates difficulties due to complexity of the physical phenomenon involved during the interaction. In this work we present an hardware-inloop simulation (HLS) technique, where a simulation of the space robot dynamics is combined with emulation of the contact dynamics by using a rigid robot performing contact task. The rigid robot is not dynamically or kinematically equivalent to the space robot, but it is controlled so that its endpoint dynamics replicates that of the space robot. Simulation and experimental results given from implementation on a six degrees of freedom manipulator are presented.