On the use of free-floating space robots in the presence of angular momentum

Free-floating space manipulator systems, have their thrusters turned off and exhibit nonholonomic behavior due to angular momentum conservation. Here, the initial system angular momentum is not assumed to be zero and therefore the manipulator end effector cannot remain in a position for indefinite time. The system kinematics and dynamics constraints are studied yielding a subset of a system´s reachable workspace where the end effector can remain indefinitely. The application of the methodology is illustrated using an example. To demonstrate the concept, an experimental space robot simulator was developed and its mechatronics aspects are presented briefly.