Optimal detumbling strategy for a non-cooperative target with unknown inertial parameters using a space manipulator

Abstract

Capturing tumbling target is considered as one of the greatest challenges in on-orbit service missions due to tumbling motion and parameter uncertainty of the space non-cooperative target. The tumbling motion of the target should be attenuated as quickly as possible before grasping to avoid the unexpected collisions and possible damages to the space manipulator or the target, which means the shortest-time detumbling trajectory is necessary. In many studies about the optimal detumbling trajectory planning the inertial parameters of the target have been assumed to be accurately known, which is usually difficult for a non-cooperative target so that parameter identification is needed before planning a optimal detumbling trajectory. In this paper, a novel strategy for parameter identification and detumbling of a tumbling target by a space manipulator is proposed. The strategy includes two phases. First, unknown inertial parameters of the target are identified in finite-time by a new estimation method with the assumption of interval excitation (IE), which relaxes the strict persistent excitation (PE) condition required in most prior studies. Second, the shortest-time detumbling trajectory of the tumbling target is generated by formulating a time-optimal control problem (OCP) in which the target attitude bounds and the limitations of the contact force as well as the relative velocity between the space manipulator and the target are represented as extended dynamical sub-systems and saturation functions. Then, the Calculus of Variations method is used to solve the OCP to obtain a high accuracy solution. During two phases, the contact force between the space manipulator and the target is utilized to generate external moment for identifying the inertia parameters of the target and detumbling the target. Meanwhile, a unified hybrid impedance control framework is applied to the space robot to track the desired contact force and motion trajectory. The whole strategy is verified by a space manipulator capturing a tumbling target, and numerical simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods.