Autonomous robotic operations for on-orbit satellite servicing

Andrew Ogilvie; Justin Allport; Michael Hannah; John Lymer

doi:10.1117/12.784081

15 April 2008 Autonomous robotic operations for on-orbit satellite servicing

Andrew Ogilvie, Justin Allport, Michael Hannah, John Lymer

Proceedings Volume 6958, Sensors and Systems for Space Applications II; 695809 (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.784081
Event: SPIE Defense and Security Symposium, 2008, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

The Orbital Express Demonstration System (OEDS) flight test successfully demonstrated technologies required to autonomously service satellites on-orbit. The mission's integrated robotics solution, the Orbital Express Demonstration Manipulator System (OEDMS) developed by MDA, performed critical flight test operations. The OEDMS comprised a six-jointed robotic manipulator arm and its avionics, non-proprietary servicing and ORU (Orbital Replacement Unit) interfaces, a vision and arm control system for autonomous satellite capture, and a suite of Ground Segment and Flight Segment software allowing script generation and execution under supervised or full autonomy. The arm was mounted on ASTRO, the servicer spacecraft developed by Boeing. The NextSat, developed by Ball Aerospace, served as the client satellite. The OEDMS demonstrated two key goals of the OEDS flight test: autonomous free-flyer capture and berthing of a client satellite, and autonomous transfer of ORUs from servicer to client and back. The paper provides a description of the OEDMS and the key operations it performed.

Citation Download Citation

Andrew Ogilvie, Justin Allport, Michael Hannah, and John Lymer "Autonomous robotic operations for on-orbit satellite servicing", Proc. SPIE 6958, Sensors and Systems for Space Applications II, 695809 (15 April 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.784081

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