Minimum Time Collision-Free Trajectories for Grabbing a Non-Tumbling Satellite∗

The problem of grabbing a non-tumbling satellite, addressed in this paper, is split into two subproblems, the first of determining a minimum distance collision-free path from the starting stowed pose of the space manipulator to the grabbing pose, and the second of determining a minimum time motion along this path, subject to speed and torque constraints of the manipulator. The first problem is solved using the well known A∗ algorithm, after posing path planning as a graph search problem. Different types of heuristic functions are used for the graph search, and their influence in finding the solution is discussed. The non-smooth path generated using A∗ algorithm is smoothened, and then minimum time motion subject to constraints is determined by posing it as a nonlinear programming problem and solved using an SQP algorithm. Solutions obtained for three different target satellite poses are discussed.