Dynamics modeling and control of a 6-DOF space robot with flexible panels for capturing a free floating target

• Spatial dynamics and control of a 6-DOF space robot is established.
• Flexible panels are considered in the contact and impact problems between a space robot and a target.
• Problems of spatial impact dynamics and control of space robot are studied.
• Method of computer graphics is used to established the impact model.
• Simulation results indicate the viability of the methods presented in this paper.

In many kinds of on-orbit space robot tasks, capturing free floating target using space robot attracts more attention of researchers. However, most existing researches about dynamics and control of space robot concern planar problem, and the effect of flexible panel on capturing dynamics of the system is not considered. In this paper, spatial dynamics and control of a 6-DOF space robot with flexible panels are investigated and spatial impact problem is considered. Dynamic model of the system is established by the single direction recursive construction method and the Jourdain's velocity variation principle. The Hertz contact and impact theory and the method of computer graphics are used to establish the impact model. The computed torque control method is used to design active controller to suppress the spacecraft drift caused by the impact. Numerical simulation results show that the established dynamic model is effective in describing the dynamics behavior of the space robot; flexible panels have big influence on impact dynamic characteristics; the designed controller may effectively control the spacecraft drift during the capture process.