Design of Autonomous Foldable Docking Mechanism for Small Space Vehicles

Abstract

Over the past decade, small satellites have gained the interest of the space industry as a new and cost effective approach for servicing space assets. To address the special constraints inherent to the component miniaturization required for these satellites, researchers in the Space, Automation and Manufacturing Mechanisms Laboratory (SAMM) are exploring foldable mechanisms and their effectiveness for providing autonomous rendezvous and docking capabilities for small space vehicles. This paper focuses particularly on the design of autonomous docking mechanisms for space vehicles within the small satellite class known as picosatellite (size and mass requirements: 1 kilogram mass within a 10×10×10 centimeter cube). The docking mechanisms deployment scenario is a dual satellite system comprised of two small satellites (a chaser and a target). The chaser has attitude and translational control capability, while the target is a passive satellite having only attitude stabilization capability. This paper will first present a review of the existing docking mechanism technology utilized in space. This is followed by details of a foldable mechanism approach for providing small satellites autonomous docking capabilities. This includes geometric and dynamic analysis conducted in ADAMS software simulations.