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Payload parameter identification method of flexible space manipulator

Zhiyu Ni (College of Aerospace Engineering, Shenyang Aerospace University, Shenyang, China)
Yewei Zhang (College of Aerospace Engineering, Shenyang Aerospace University, Shenyang, China)
Xinhui Shen (State Key Laboratory of Robotics, Center for Space Automation Technology and Systems, Shenyang Institute of Automation Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, China)
Shunan Wu (School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China)
Zhigang Wu (School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China)

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology

ISSN: 0002-2667

Article publication date: 18 May 2020

189

Abstract

Purpose

When a manipulator captures an unknown space object, inertia parameters of endpoint payload should be timely obtained to handle possible unexpected parameter variations and monitor the system’s operating conditions. Therefore, this study aims to present an identification method for estimating the inertia parameter of the payload carried by a flexible two-link space manipulator.

Design/methodology/approach

The original nonlinear dynamics model of the manipulator is linearized at a selected working point. Subsequently, the system modal frequencies with and without payload are determined using the subspace identification algorithm, and the difference of these frequencies is computed. Furthermore, by adjusting the structural configuration of the manipulator, multiple sets of frequency differences are obtained. Therefore, the inertia parameters of the payload, i.e. the mass and the moment of inertia, can be derived from the frequency differences by solving a least-squares problem.

Findings

The proposed method can effectively estimate the payload parameters and has satisfactory identification accuracy.

Practical implications

The approach’s implementation provides a practical reference for determining inertia parameters of an unknown space target in the capture process.

Originality/value

The study proposes a novel method for identifying the inertia parameters of the payload of a flexible two-link space manipulator using the estimated system frequencies.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11502040, 11772205), the Scientific Research Foundation of Shenyang Aerospace University (18YB47) and the Youth Foundation of Education Department of Liaoning Province (JYT19033).

Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this article.

Citation

Ni, Z., Zhang, Y., Shen, X., Wu, S. and Wu, Z. (2020), "Payload parameter identification method of flexible space manipulator", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 92 No. 6, pp. 925-938. https://doi.org/10.1108/AEAT-06-2019-0128

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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