Computer-aided Motion Planning for Satellite Mounted Robots

In space based robotics, one of the most important problems is the disturbance to the satellite attitude and to the satellite microgravity environment caused by satellite mounted robot operation. This paper reports on computer-aided motion planning strategies to overcome this problem. Point to point motion designs are generated which not only connect prescribed start and end points of the robot motion, but also simultaneously return the satellite to its original attitude. Theoretical characterizations of some of those motion designs are presented, as well as numerical results. The computation time required to produce such motion designs is 1 or 2 minutes on a workstation. Thus, it can be practical to use these motion plans in space.