Efficient computation scheme for the kinematics and inverse dynamics of a satellite-based manipulator

The authors propose an efficient computation scheme for the kinematics and inverse dynamics of a space manipulator. The simulation of the manipulator by using the equation of motion directly requires intensive calculation. The scheme proposed in the paper uses the kinematic conditions of the adjoined links and their derivatives with respect to time. The linear and angular velocities and accelerations of the links are separated into two parts, one dependent on the motion of the satellite and the other the remainder whose values are determined by a recursive algorithm. The conservation laws of the total linear and angular momentums and the conditions for the total force and torque balance are used to determine the satellite body´s linear and angular velocities and accelerations. These, in turn, make it possible to solve the kinematics and inverse dynamics of a satellite-based manipulator. The amount of calculations for the kinematics and inverse dynamics is proportional to the number of manipulator links