Dynamics and control of a 6-DOF space robot with flexible panels

Abstract

With the development of space exploration, researches on space robot will cause more attentions. However, most existing researches about dynamics and control of space robot concern planar problem, and the effect of flexible panel on dynamics of the system is not considered. In this article, dynamics modeling and active control of a 6-DOF space robot with flexible panels are investigated. Dynamic model of the system is established based on the Jourdain's velocity variation principle and the single direction recursive construction method. The computed torque control method is used to design point-to-point active controller of the space robot. The validity of the dynamic model is verified through the comparison with ADAMS software; the effects of panel flexibility on the system performance and the active controller design are studied in detail. Simulation results indicate that the proposed model is effective to describe the dynamics of space robot; panel flexibility has large influence on the dynamic behavior of space robot; the designed controller can effectively make the robot reach a specified position and the elastic vibration of the panels may be suppressed simultaneously.