Contact dynamics modelling for the simulation of the Space Station manipulators handling payloads

This paper describes a general approach to the modelling and simulation of contact dynamics for robotic systems. The contact bodies under consideration are arbitrary 3-D objects as long as their bounding surfaces are linear or quadratic. Multiple-contact and body flexibility are considered. Numerical iterative procedure is used to ensure the coupling between local contact forces and system´s dynamics at each simulation step. The approach has been implemented and integrated into a generic manipulator simulator currently being used to support the design of the Space Station manipulator systems