Abstract

The poten al applica ons of in-space assembly and manufacturing are vast and varied. For instance, it can facilitate the development of large-scale solar power sta ons that can provide clean energy to Earth, the crea on of advanced scien fic instruments and telescopes that offer unprecedented views of the universe, and the construc on of space habitats that support human life for extended periods. Moreover, this technology can enhance the repair and maintenance of exis ng satellites and space sta ons, extending their opera onal life mes and improving their performance.Instan a on of almost any ISAM capability require robo cs to be realized. While "robots" have existed for some me on the Interna onal Space Sta on (ISS) through robo c arms and augmenta on elements, the crea on of autonomous independent robo c elements that can exist on free flying pla orms is rela vely new. The ability to manipulate in space translates to extending a single monolithic pla orms primary func on (i.e. a satellite) into a mul -purpose servicing pla orm that opens up incredible possibili es for expanding what is done in orbit, a er launch.The field of space robo cs is an order of magnitude more complicated given the sheer difficulty of real me communica ons, visualiza on of objects, and compliance required to account for mul ple degrees of freedom required to operate in space. The ar cles included here are meant to offer some insight and thought on the various challenges and poten al solu ons to enabling various levels of dexterity, manipula on, and thus poten al func ons that on orbit space robo cs can affect.Rela ve to …

Date

2024

Authors

David Barnhart, Rudranarayan Mukherjee, Mini Chakravarthini Rai, Nicholas D'Amore, Carl Glen Henshaw

Source

Frontiers in Robotics and AI

Volume

11

Pages

1421697

Publisher

Frontiers Media SA