Design of a novel deployable mechanism for capturing tumbling debris

XueAi Li, Kui Sun, Hong Liu
2019 Transactions of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering  
The large number of man-made debris stemming for decades of space exploration threatens the safety of future space activities. It is therefore urgent to perform Active Debris Removal (ADR) missions to maintain the access to usable orbital space. This paper proposes a novel deployable end-effector and detumbling mechanism to capture tumbling debris. Three mechatronic subsystems for the capture, transmission, and actuation are highly integrated in the end-effector allowing for compact storage
more » ... ng space transport. Grippers composed of constant-torque hinges endow the mechanism with a deployable function and ensure a steady envelope by means of caging, without the need for precise tracking and complex control. With only one actuator, six grippers' simultaneous motion is implemented by arranging gears in a unique manner. Moreover, an optimal design of the grippers is performed to enlarge their envelope while reducing weight. A contact detumbling mechanism, composed of three dampers along three axes, is also provided based on revolute friction to slowdown the tumbling debris with residual angular momentum. Two slip rings are ingeniously embedded in each damper to transmit electricity considering signal interference and cable interwinding. Finally, simulations of the capturing and detumbling demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed mechanism.
doi:10.1139/tcsme-2018-0146 fatcat:mw6qq6agrrbktkwjukbcdgzuxq