Wojtunik, Mateusz (Centrum Badań Kosmicznych Polskiej Akademii Nauk (CBK PAN)), Rybus, Tomasz (Space Research Centre (CBK PAN)), Seweryn, Karol (Centrum Badań Kosmicznych Polskiej Akademii Nauk (CBK PAN))

Application of Adaptive Backstepping Control for Free-Floating Space Manipulator Capturing Tumbling Space Debris

Scheduled for presentation during the Regular Session "Aerial and Space Robots" (WeBT4), Wednesday, July 16, 2025, 15:20−15:40, Room 108

Joint 10th IFAC Symposium on Mechatronic Systems and 14th Symposium on Robotics, July 15-18, 2025, Paris, France

This information is tentative and subject to change. Compiled on July 16, 2025

Abstract

Active Debris Removal and In-Orbit Servicing missions require the capture of the uncooperative tumbling target satellite. One of the methods considered for such a capture manoeuvre is to utilize a robotic arm mounted on the servicing satellite. A gripper mounted on the manipulator's end-effector should align with the target satellite in order to perform the capture and servicing operations. The control algorithms for the space manipulator account for the dynamic coupling between the robotic arm and the servicing satellite. In this paper, we present the simulation study of the practical application of the control algorithm in tracking the target's Launch Adapter Ring, which position and orientation results from the tumbling motion of the target satellite. The Monte Carlo numerical simulations are conducted with different system’s parameters, initial conditions of the servicing satellite, and the measurement noise added to the position and orientation of the gripper with respect to the target satellite. The spatial 6-DoF manipulator mounted on the servicing satellite is used in simulations. The adaptive backstepping control is used in order to account for the mass and inertia parameter uncertainty of the servicing satellite and the manipulator. The presented results showed the feasibility of the proposed adaptive control and that it can be used in a potential Active Debris Removal mission.