Experiment of Robotic Motion Using Drop Shaft.

Abstract

This paper describes an experimental result of motion of a space robot using a drop shaft. The drop shaft is 710[m] deep and can be used for micro-gravity experiment during 10 seconds. The robot for this experiment equipped with three links. The micro-gravity environment had 0.03[m/s2] variation. When the robot was apart from the holding mechanism, it obtained small linear and angular momentum. However, the robot did not collide with the environment during the motion. A simulation was conducted and compared with the experiment. The z-axis rotational motions are in good agreement with each other, however the x and y-axes, which are parallel to the vision plane, were not. The robot got no damage during the experiment.