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- Palmerini, Giovanni B., et al.
(författare)
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Design of debris removal missions performed by robotic graspers
- 2012
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Ingår i: 63rd International Astronautical Congress 2012. - Paris : International Astronautical Federation. - 9781622769797 ; , s. 6356-6366
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The well known increase of the orbiting debris, leading to a critical condition in which additional launches could be precluded, calls for mitigation and removal practices. First, and maybe easier to accomplish with respect to other concepts under study, some missions should be probably carried out in a close fiiture to grasp large unused orbiting objects, like upper stages or idle spacecraft that already ended their operational lifetime. The focus on large objects, even if they are a limited subset of orbiting spent bodies, helps in two ways: The reduction of the cross section for possible impacts, and, more remarkably, the reduction of the number and size of additional debris to be generated in a possible collision. As a result, these targets can justify the cost and the complexity of removal missions which, even if almost traditional in the approach and not-too-far from current operational capabilities, still pose significant technical problems. The paper aims to present the operational sequence of a removal mission to be performed by a robotic spacecraft. The issues relevant for the different phases are discussed, with a special focus on the grasping operations, when the robotic arms of the servicing spacecraft, after the determination of the relative kinematic state of the target, should carcfully embraces and precisely catch, in a safe area, the orbiting body. Such an approach should bypass obstacles like solar panels and avoid the break-up of the target, possibly degraded due to its long exposure to space environment. The results of simulations under reasonable, engineering hypothesis for the mission's scenario are presented, with the estimate of torques and forces to be exerted by the robotic arms. The attitude issues for the servicing spacecraft, as well as the vibration behaviour for an accurate end-effector positioning during robotic arms manoeuvres are considered. The confidence in the findings of these numerical studies is strengthened by the know-how gained with the related experimental activities performed during recent years in the labs at Sapienza Universita' di Roma by means of dedicated, small test-beds
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| 2. |
- Sinn, T., et al.
(författare)
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Results of rexus12's suaineadh experiment : Deployment of a spinning space web in micro gravity conditions
- 2012
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, IAC. - : International Astronautical Federation. - 9781622769797 ; , s. 803-810
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- On the 19th of March 2012, the Suaineadh experiment was launched onboard the sounding rocket REXUS12 (Rocket Experiments for University Students) from the Swedish launch base ESRANGE in Kiruna. The Suaineadh experiment served as a technology demonstrator for a space web deployed by a spinning assembly. The deployment of this web is a stepping stone for the development of ever larger structures in space. Such a structure could serve as a substructure for solar arrays, transmitters and/or antennas. The team was comprised of students from the University of Strathclyde (Glasgow, UK), the University of Glasgow (Glasgow, UK) and the Royal Institute of Technology (Stockholm, Sweden), designing, manufacturing and testing the experiment over the past 24 months. Following launch, the experiment was ejected from the ejection barrel located within the nosecone of the rocket. Centrifugal forces acting upon the space webs spinning assembly were used to stabilise the experiment's platform. A specifically designed spinning reaction wheel, with an active control method, was used. Once the experiment's motion was controlled, a 2 m by 2 m space web is released. Four daughter sections situated in the corners of the square web served as masses to stabilise the web due to the centrifugal forces acting on them. The four daughter sections contained inertial measurement units (IMUs). Each IMU provided acceleration and velocity measurements in all three directions. Through this, the positions of the four corners could be found through integration with respect to known time of the accelerations and rotations. Furthermore, four cameras mounted on the central hub section captured high resolution imagery of the deployment process. After the launch of REXUS12, the recovery helicopter was unable to locate the ejected experiment, but 22 pictures were received over the wireless connection between the experiment and the rocket. The last received picture was taken at the commencement of web deployment. Inspection of these pictures allowed the assumption that the experiment was fully functional after ejection, but perhaps through tumbling of either the experiment or the rocket, the wireless connection was interrupted. A recovery mission in the middle of August was only able to find the REXUS12 motor and the payload impact location.
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