Research on a Conceptual 6-DOF Camera Manipulator Mounted on the Space Capsule

The research devoted to a conceptual 6-DOF (degree of freedom) camera manipulator mounted on the space capsule is motivated by the cognizance that it is difficult for the camera mounted on the satellite to take photographs flexibly. In this paper, contrary to the traditional way of installing the camera on the satellite, a six degrees of freedom camera manipulator conceptually mounted on the space capsule is introduced. After a brief introduction, the second part of this paper is dedicated to make the forward kinematics analysis and backward kinematics analysis of this manipulator. The third part of this paper develops an algorithm which makes it possible for this manipulator to fulfill two main tasks of motion to arrive at a desirable position with an appropriate orientation, which is of critical importance for the camera at the end effector to take a perfect image of its target. A virtual prototype of this manipulator is demonstrated in the last part of this paper and several experiments are carried out to verify the algorithms mentioned in the former parts of this paper. It is proved through the experiments that the algorithms are reliable to enable the manipulator to accomplish the assignments effectively.