Influence of Control Time Delay on the Dynamics of Satellite Capture

Abstract

One of the most important phases of satellite servicing operations by a space robot is the “contact” phase. During the contact between the end-effector and grasping point, there is a risk that the target and the robot can be pushed away from each other by the contact force. Therefore, the method to control the end-effector by the impedance control so as not to deflect the target was suggested. However, all of real control systems have the control time delay. In case of the target capture operation, the time delay of the impedance control makes the impulse of the contact larger. In this paper, to verify the effect of the time delay of the impedance control, experiments with a air-floating testbed and numerical simulations are carried out.