Ground micro-gravity verification of free-floating non-cooperative satellite docking

Ground micro-gravity verification and test for the on-orbit docking operation of non-cooperative target satellites in 3-dimensional space based on two 6-DOF industrial robots is essential and significant owing to the high risk and cost and the influence of the earth gravity. The development of ground micro-gravity verification system mainly adopts the hybrid simulation method, which includes the real contact hardware test experiment and the virtual software simulation. To realize the emulation of ground micro-gravity environment, the gravity compensation algorithm of the non-cooperative target satellites is necessary in the system. The admittance control method is adopted to realize the soft docking function to ensure the success of the docking mission, which mainly simulates the real contact force and the real motion state during the docking process in space. The ground verification experiment results show that servicing satellite can successfully dock or capture the free-floating non-cooperative target satellites in 3-dimensional space.