ETS-VII Flight Experiments For Space Robot Dynamics and Control

The Engineering Test Satellite VII (ETS-VII), developed and launched by National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) has been successfully flown and carried out significant experiments on orbital robotics with a 2 meter-long, 6 DOF manipulator arm mounted on this un-manned spacecraft. The ETS-VII should be noted as one of remarkable outcomes of the research effort on space robots, particularly characterized as an orbital free-flying robot. This paper highlights a story how the theories have been developed mathematically, studied with laboratory test bed, then demonstrated in orbit.