A study of a gravity compensation system for the spacecraft prototype test by using multi-robot system

• Published in: Artificial life and robotics Vol. 25; no. 1; pp. 81 - 88
• Main Authors: Nakayama, Ayana, Hirata, Tomohiro, Tsujita, Katsuyoshi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tokyo Springer Japan 01-02-2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Artificial Intelligence; Beams (structural); Compensation; Computation by Abstract Devices; Computer Science; Computer simulation; Control; Deployable structures; Free vibration; Gravitation; Ground tests; Mechatronics; Multiple robots; Original Article; Prototype tests; Robotics; Spacecraft; Spacecraft structures; Deployable space structure; Multi-robot; Prototype test; Gravity compensation
• ISSN: 1433-5298; 1614-7456
• DOI: 10.1007/s10015-019-00568-4

In our research, we proposed a system using multi-robot as a gravity compensation system for a ground test of a spacecraft with a deployable structure. The advantage of the system is its low cost and versatility. When the robots support the beam at the nodes, we can expect to simulate the free vibration of the space structure using the proposed system under gravity. In this study, supporting a uniform, flexible beam with vibration was first implemented to verify the performance of the proposed system. Then we investigated the performance of the system applying to the mock-up model of a spacecraft with a deployable structure as a demonstration.