AN 8 DEGREE-OF-FREEDOM MACRO-MICRO ROBOT FOR PRECISE FORCE MANIPULATORS

A ROBOT CAPABLE OF DEXTROUS FORCE CONTROLLED MANIPULATION WOULD ALLOW THE AUTOMATION OF DELICATE TASKS WHICH ARE PERFORMED IN SPACE, PARTICULARLY DURING UNMANNED MISSIONS OR EXTRA-VEHICULAR ACTIVITIES. ANALYTIC PROOFS SHOW THAT EXISTING ADVANCED CONTROL STRATEGIES SHOULD BE CAPABLE OF DEXTROUS FORCE CONTROL. HOWEVER, TWO MORE PRACTICAL LIMITATIONS HAVE PREVENTED THE DEVELOPMENT OF PRECISE FORCE CONTROLLED ROBOTS: A MECHANISM ABLE TO EXECUTE THE FORCE COMMANDS, AND A CONTROL SYSTEM WHICH CAN SATISFY THE COMPUTATIONAL REQUIREMENTS OF ADVANCED FORCE CONTROL ALGORITHMS. DYNAMIC MICROSYSTEMS HAS DEVELOPED A NEW ROBOT CONTROLLER - THE 3DP - WHICH OFFERS UNMATCHED COMPUTATIONAL POWER FOR ADVANCED ROBOT CONTROL. BY COUPLING THIS CONTROLLER WITH A CAREFULLY DESIGNED LOW-INERTIA REDUNDANT MECHANISM, WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP A PRECISE FORCE CONTROLLABLE ROBOTIC SYSTEM. FOR THIS PHASE I EFFORT WE WILL DEMONSTRATE THROUGH COMPUTER SIMULATION AND ANALYSIS THAT THE ROBOTIC SYSTEM DESCRIBED IN THIS PROPOSAL CAN PRODUCE PRECISE FORCE CONTROLLED MANIPULATIONS.