Study on coupling dynamics and control of flexible capturing robot and solar panel

The Absolute Nodal Based (ACB) method that combines the Absolute Nodal Coordinate Formulation (ANCF) and Natural Coordinate Formulation (NCF) not only can describe the dynamic characteristics of rigid-flexible multibody system accurately but also lead to constant system mass matrix, which will help to improve computation efficiency. The coupling dynamics and control of a satellite flexible capturing robot and solar panel system were studied by using the ACB method in the robot process of grasping a floating object. A four-point contact detection model for the cylindrical clearance joint was proposed and a continuous contact force model was used, in which the energy dissipation could be considered. A combined control scheme was also proposed to assure the stability of the satellite attitude. The studies have provided a new modeling and numerical simulation method for the coupling dynamics and control analysis of the practical flexible satellite-capturing robot-solar panel systems.