Impact Estimation for Capturing a Target by a Space Robot. Effects of the Joint Stiffness.

Abstract

Capturing a target by a space robot in space inevitably causes impact forces on the contact points. This paper focuses on such a short contact period and proposes a new approach to model the contact dynamics. It derives equations to estimate the impulse of the contact forces considering the effects of the joint stiffness represented by the joint servo. Using the derived equations, it is shown that the impulse of the contact forces increases with the joint stiffness regardless of its posture. Numerical simulations and hardware experiments are given to validate the proposed approach.