ASTROBATICS: OPERATION AND CONTROL OF THE ASTROBEE ROBOTIC FREE-FLYER

In preparation for future on-orbit testing on the International Space Station (ISS), the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) Spacecraft Robotics Laboratory (SRL) demonstrated operation and control of the Astrobee robotic free-flyer both in simulation and experimentation at NASA Ames Research Center. This thesis discusses the continuation of ground testing of the robotic hopping maneuver, a propellantless, robotic manipulator-based mobility approach for orbiting satellites. It also expands the current SRL scope to include motion planning and presents the use of artificial potential field guidance (APFG) to directly control Astrobee’s impellers and stabilize after completing a successful hopping maneuver on the ISS. This thesis additionally serves as a manual for future NPS students to configure NASA’s Astrobee simulator. Following the ISS experimental campaign, generating a model for the robot’s force allocation module and integrating the APFG motion planner are areas of focus for future SRL research.