Abstract

USC’s Space Engineering Research Center (SERC) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have created a unique “octopus” tentacle end effector for robotic systems that uses formable electro-adhesion (EA) and Gecko adhesion capture cloth material. REACCH, or Reactive Electro-Adhesive Capture ClotH, supports soft capture of objects of any size, shape, surface finish or material on-orbit. To-date SERC/JPL have developed initial tentacles and backing spines that can control the EA/G material. Prototypes with two tentacles have been demonstrated and tested on a 3-DOF air bearing device in 1g in one plane of grip. The results show promise to further develop this new type of grappling mechanism able to make first soft contact with an object, with a technology that merges compliance and control elements for future on-orbit servicing and assembly missions. This paper presents the initial design and test results …

Date

2020

Authors

Sriram Narayanan, David Barnhart, Rebecca Rogers, Donald Ruffatto, Ethan Schaler, Nikko Van Crey, Gabriella Dean, Alisha Bhanji, Sofia Bernstein, Amrita Singh, Oswin Almeida, Soundarya Sampathkumar, Everett Maness, Eric Junkins, Rahul Rughani

Book

AIAA Scitech 2020 Forum

Pages

2134