On-Orbit Assembly of Flexible Space Structures with SWARM

On-orbit assembly is an enabling technology for many space applications. However, current methods of human assisted assembly are high in cost and risk to the crew, motivating a desire to automate the on-orbit assembly process using robotic technology. Construction of large space structures will like...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mohan, Swati, Katz, Jacob G., Miller, David W.
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics 2013
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/81488
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6099-0614
_version_ 1811094208718569472
author Mohan, Swati
Katz, Jacob G.
Miller, David W.
author2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
author_facet Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Mohan, Swati
Katz, Jacob G.
Miller, David W.
author_sort Mohan, Swati
collection MIT
description On-orbit assembly is an enabling technology for many space applications. However, current methods of human assisted assembly are high in cost and risk to the crew, motivating a desire to automate the on-orbit assembly process using robotic technology. Construction of large space structures will likely involve the manipulation of flexible elements such as trusses or solar panels, and automation for assembly of flexible structures has significant challenges, particularly in control systems. This paper presents results of ground-based experiments on the assembly of a flexible space structures using the hardware developed under the Self-Assembling Wireless Autonomous Reconfigurable Modules (SWARM) program. Results are shown for a series of incremental tests that demonstrate control of a flexible structure, docking, and reconfiguration after docking. These results demonstrate the feasibility of the assembly of flexible structures using this methodology.
first_indexed 2024-09-23T15:56:33Z
format Article
id mit-1721.1/81488
institution Massachusetts Institute of Technology
language en_US
last_indexed 2024-09-23T15:56:33Z
publishDate 2013
publisher American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
record_format dspace
spelling mit-1721.1/814882022-09-29T17:11:00Z On-Orbit Assembly of Flexible Space Structures with SWARM Mohan, Swati Katz, Jacob G. Miller, David W. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics Katz, Jacob G. Miller, David W. Mohan, Swati On-orbit assembly is an enabling technology for many space applications. However, current methods of human assisted assembly are high in cost and risk to the crew, motivating a desire to automate the on-orbit assembly process using robotic technology. Construction of large space structures will likely involve the manipulation of flexible elements such as trusses or solar panels, and automation for assembly of flexible structures has significant challenges, particularly in control systems. This paper presents results of ground-based experiments on the assembly of a flexible space structures using the hardware developed under the Self-Assembling Wireless Autonomous Reconfigurable Modules (SWARM) program. Results are shown for a series of incremental tests that demonstrate control of a flexible structure, docking, and reconfiguration after docking. These results demonstrate the feasibility of the assembly of flexible structures using this methodology. United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Small Business Innovation Program (Contract NNM07AA22C) 2013-10-23T16:50:45Z 2013-10-23T16:50:45Z 2010-04 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/ConferencePaper 978-1-60086-963-1 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/81488 Katz, Jacob, Swati Mohan, and David Miller. “On-Orbit Assembly of Flexible Space Structures with SWARM.” In AIAA Infotech@Aerospace 2010. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2010. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6099-0614 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.2514/6.2010-3524 Proceedings of the AIAA Infotech@Aerospace 2010 Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ application/pdf American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics MIT web domain
spellingShingle Mohan, Swati
Katz, Jacob G.
Miller, David W.
On-Orbit Assembly of Flexible Space Structures with SWARM
title On-Orbit Assembly of Flexible Space Structures with SWARM
title_full On-Orbit Assembly of Flexible Space Structures with SWARM
title_fullStr On-Orbit Assembly of Flexible Space Structures with SWARM
title_full_unstemmed On-Orbit Assembly of Flexible Space Structures with SWARM
title_short On-Orbit Assembly of Flexible Space Structures with SWARM
title_sort on orbit assembly of flexible space structures with swarm
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/81488
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6099-0614
work_keys_str_mv AT mohanswati onorbitassemblyofflexiblespacestructureswithswarm
AT katzjacobg onorbitassemblyofflexiblespacestructureswithswarm
AT millerdavidw onorbitassemblyofflexiblespacestructureswithswarm