Coordinated Detumbling Control of Dual-Arm Space Robot in Post-Capture Phase

Abstract In this paper, in order to perform the detumbling operation after capturing a non-cooperative satellite, a control framework for dual-arm space robot is presented. First, using a parametrized description with normalized time and control torque limitations, a time-optimal detumbling strategy for the target is given. The dynamics formulation of the complete system in post-capture phase, including multi-arm space robot and the target is then illustrated, laying the groundwork for coordinated controller design. A coordinated controller is proposed to conduct the pre-planned detumbling strategy, while internal force control and load distribution are two supplementary objectives that can be achieved with the given controller. The feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method are demonstrated by simulation results for detumbling a target with rotating motion utilizing two 7 degree-of-freedom kinematically redundant space manipulators.