Experimental Platform for Modeling and Control of Articulated Bodies

© 2020, The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.Articulated bodies, like robotic manipulators and tethered satellites, have gained great attention in recent decades due to their application in several space solutions, as active debris removal, momentum transfer systems, electrodynamic reboots of space stations, among others. The dynamics of these mechanisms are usually considered as rigid pendulums or dumbbells. Several studies have been carried out to validate the mathematical modeling and control either of tether satellites with a massless tether and thus, no inertia; or rigid pendulums under earth conditions. The aim of this paper is to combine the prior knowledge of both proposals and present a mathematical model of the articulated space system in orbital conditions. Numerical and experimental results, based on the ground-based experimental setup, are considered to validate this model. This report also includes technical information about the hardware and software components used in the communication and connections of an experimental platform designed to emulate different orbital trajectories.

Experimental Platform for Modeling and Control of Articulated Bodies Chapter in Scopus