Investigation of impedance controller for autonomous on-orbit servicing robot

The premise of this study is to demonstrate a simulation environment and basis that is used to evaluate the control methodologies employed to govern the behaviour of robotic manipulators (RM) in on-orbit autonomous capture. The capture itself is effected on non-cooperative targets in a zero gravity simulated environment. The RM employs a vision system, force sensors, and encoders to sense its environment. The control is effected through position and torque inputs to three stepper motors and three servo motors. The control strategy tested is a modified hybrid force/neural network impedance controller. This paper will demonstrate that impedance control can reliably control a robotic manipulator in an unknown environment.