The reaction stabilization of on-orbit robots

The focus of this article is to examine the reaction moment effect of satellite-based manipulators and to investigate the feasibility of stabilizing the base platform during arm operations. The goal is not to advance the state of the art in adaptive control, but rather to illustrate the benefits of autonomous attitude stabilization through reaction moment compensation. A derivation of vehicle body dynamics using reaction wheels and thrusters as the primary input sources is given. The modifications to the Newton-Euler method necessary to accommodate a manipulator arm with a free-flying base are then outlined. Next, a quaternion-based feedback regulator design is adopted.