MULTIPLE PREHENSION MANIPULATOR

THE NEED FOR ADVANCED END EFFECTORS IN SATELLITE SERVICING AND MAINTAINANCE HAS EMPHASIZED THE MANY TECHNICAL CHALLENGES IN END EFFECTOR DESIGN. ADVANCED SENSORS, COMPUTER CONTROLS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE HAVE RECENTLY OPENED NEW DOORS TO THE TRADITIONAL PROBLEMS OF SLIP, GRIP WITHOUT CRUSH AND PREHENSILE PATTERN RECOGNITION. THIS PROGRAM WILL USE COMPUTER SIMULATION TO DEVELOP KINEMATICS FOR A THREE FINGER GRIPPING MECHANISM. CONSTRAINT THEORY WILL BE STUDIED TO OPTIMIZE THE NUMBER OF DEGREES OF FREEDOM. A MINIATURE SIX-COMPONENT LOAD CELL WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO EACH FINGER. ADAPTIVE CONTROL SOFTWARE WILL BE UTILIZED IN A HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE FOR THE CONTROL SYSTEM. THIS CONTROL SYSTEM WILL BE ABLE TO DETECT THE POINT OF APPLICATION OF THE FORCE AND THE TWISTING MOMENT TRANSMITTED AT EACH FINGER CONSTRAINT POINT.A PROTOTYPE GRIPPER WILL BE BUILT AND RESEARCHED. A MECHANICAL LOGIC PROCESS WILL BE USED DURING PHASE I AND PHASE II WHICH WILL RESULT THE DEVELOPMENT OF CERTAIN LAWS FOR END EFFECTORS. THESE LAWS AND THE CONTROL THEORY WILL PRODUCE AN OPTIMIZED AND EFFECTOR.