Autonomous Rail Transportation Network for Spacecraft Servicing and Inspection

Abstract

Current unmanned orbital systems lack the ability to access all locations for inspection and servicing, resulting in high costs or mission failure in the event of hardware malfunction. The autonomously assembling rail system proposed in this work provides versatile, low-footprint access to all areas of a satellite, to assist in malfunction avoidance, diagnosis and mitigation. The system consists of modular rail units assembled by assembly-specific robots to extend to any point of interest on a host satellite, where single-function robots execute an operation such as inspection or manipulation. Once the operation is complete, the rail is returned to storage until another point of interest is identified. The system provides access to all points on the host without the need for attachment points beyond a central location, allowing rapid integration on diverse vehicles. In this work, high-level design decisions and their implications for implementation are explored. Qualitative results from cyclic testing of prototype rail units and extreme loading condition testing of robot drivetrains are discussed, and suggestions for further areas of investigation are presented. This project was sponsored by the Aerospace Corporation as part of the In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing Design Challenge.