A system for in-space assembly

Author

Everist, Jacob ; Mogharei, Kasra ; Suri, H. ; Ranasinghe, Nadeesha ; Khoshnevis, Berok ; Will, Peter ; Shen, Wei-Min

Author_Institution

Information Sci. Inst., Southern California Univ., Marina del Rey, CA, USA

Volume

3

fYear

2004

fDate

28 Sept.-2 Oct. 2004

Firstpage

2356

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental system for assembly in space. A weightless and frictionless environment is approximated using an air-hockey table where robots and structural components can float on the surface. The robots use fan propulsion to dock with components and assemble them together to make 2D structures. This system is designed to implement three key technologies for space self-assembly: 1) intelligent components with universal connectors, 2) a set of self-reconfigurable robots that fetch and assemble components, and 3) a distributed method for controlling the robotic-assembly process. An overview of the system´s design and experimental results is presented.

Keywords

aerospace robotics; distributed control; intelligent robots; robotic assembly; self-adjusting systems; 2D structures; distributed method; fan propulsion; in-space assembly; intelligent components; robotic-assembly process; self-reconfigurable robots; space self-assembly; universal connectors; Assembly systems; Connectors; Distributed control; Intelligent robots; Orbital robotics; Propulsion; Robot control; Robotic assembly; Self-assembly; Space technology;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Intelligent Robots and Systems, 2004. (IROS 2004). Proceedings. 2004 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on

Print_ISBN

0-7803-8463-6

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IROS.2004.1389761

Filename

1389761