Concept and design of the caging-based debris gripper for PAF capturing

Abstract

This paper presents the concept and design of a gripper intended to capture an un-cooperative object, such as a rocket body that became a debris object. The Payload Attach Fitting (PAF) is selected as the grasping point of the debris. The caging technique is used for the capturing method, and form closure is chosen as the holding method of the gripper. Wire actuation is selected for the gripper's actuation mechanism. This paper also introduces the extending mechanism and wire routing design, and the gripper is developed. The performance of the developed gripper's mechanisms are experimentally verified, and PAF capturing was demonstrated to show that the developed gripper satisfies the conceptual design.