Ground-based experiments towards the interception of non-cooperative space debris with a robotic manipulator

This paper presents an account of the experimentations with a ground-based facility emulating interception scenarios with non-cooperative space debris using a robotic manipulator. A sampling-based motion-planning algorithm is used to autonomously solve the dynamic interception problem without collisions and under velocity, acceleration and jerk constraints. Invariant Kalman filter methodologies are employed to estimate and predict the motion of a neutrally-buoyant airship emulating a free-floating target. Discussions are presented on the mitigation of practical issues of system integration and the operation of a sensitive, but cost-effective, test-bed for aerial neutral-buoyancy experiments. An account of ground-based experiments is presented as well as results showing good success rates on the tested scenarios and methods that constitute the first reported set of experiments on the interception phase of active space debris removal.