Abstract
The security of the space environment is under serious threat due to the increase in space debris in orbit. The active removal of space debris could ensure the sustainable use of the space environment; this removal relies on detumbling technology. According to the characteristics of the mechanical impact-type active detumbling method, this paper discusses a method to accurately identify the impact force using a pressure sensor. In this work, the impact force between a flexible impact end-effector and the space debris was analyzed theoretically and experimentally considering the pressure change during impact. Firstly, a nonlinear impact force model was established for the impact between a flexible end-effector and space debris. Secondly, impact experiments were performed and the friction model was modified. Finally, the effect of detumbling was verified through simulation experiments. The results showed that the identification error of normal impact force was less than 6.7% and the identification error of tangential friction force was less than 6.9%. Therefore, this identification method of impact force met the requirements of space debris detumbling, which has important guiding significance for the active removal technology of space debris.
Highlights
The development of the human spaceflight industry is threatened by a huge amount of space debris, such as residual rocket stages, uncooperative satellites, disintegrated spacecraft, and collision derivatives [1]
The impact force is applied to the space debris through the collision between the impact end-effector and the space debris, which is an important part of the large space debris active detumbling technology
It is assumed that the space debris is rigid and that the flexible end-effector is only elastically deformed
Summary
The development of the human spaceflight industry is threatened by a huge amount of space debris, such as residual rocket stages, uncooperative satellites, disintegrated spacecraft, and collision derivatives [1]. As of 2017, the total number of space debris pieces in the Earth0 s orbit is in the tens of billions [2] Large space debris, such as rocket final stages and failed satellites, weigh more than 1000 kg and rotate at speeds of more than 25◦ /s. For large space debris with large mass and high speed, noncontact detumbling requires dozens or even hundreds of hours at low efficiency, which causes the energy loss of the device to increase and the number of reuses to be reduced. The proposed method provides accurate guidance for the design and control of a space debris acquisition manipulator, proving to be of great significance to the application of active mechanical impact detumbling of space debris
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