motion tracking system and force/torque sensor for robot-airship facility

在过去三年，申请人发展了一项新的实验室设施，以进行自主机器人捕获太空卫星和非人造物体的研究。目前该工作的主要应用是利用航天飞机操纵臂系统对发生故障的卫星进行抓取。未来设想的用途包括在轨卫星服务和清除空间碎片。世界各地的空间机构都有专门的资源来解决与在轨卫星服务有关的问题，以便提高卫星发射的成功率并延长目前在轨卫星的寿命。上述在麦吉尔建造的设施包括一个轨道上的机械臂和一个氦气飞艇，以模拟太空中自由漂浮的物体。后者是申请人提出的在实验室标准环境中模拟空间物体动力学的新概念。这艘飞艇配备了六个螺旋桨，使其能够平移和旋转。它还带有一个抓钩装置——一个小把手，机器人可以抓住它。到目前为止，申请人和她的研究人员已经开发了基本功能，使机器人能够遵循指定的轨迹并跟踪安装在飞艇上的视觉目标。这项研究的下一阶段需要为该设施增加两件设备：一个传感器将安装在飞艇上，用于测量其在实验室中的运动，另一个传感器将安装在机器人尖端，用于测量在捕获期间和捕获后施加在飞艇上的力和力矩。有了这两件设备的整合，申请人将能够继续研究发展运动规划和控制策略，使机器人能够自动跟踪飞艇的运动，确定一个轨迹，使它能够拦截飞艇，通过抓钩夹具抓住它，并在捕获后控制整个系统的运动。

Over the past three years, the applicant has developed a new laboratory facility for conducting research on autonomous robotic capture of satellites and non-man-made objects in space. The main current application of this work is the use of the Space Shuttle Manipulator System to grapple a malfunctioning satellite. Future envisioned uses include in-orbit satellite servicing and removal of space debris. Space Agencies around the world have dedicated resources towards resolving problems associated with in-orbit satellite servicing in order to improve  the success rate of satellite launches and to extend the life of satellites currently in orbit. The aforementioned facility constructed at McGill includes a robotic arm on a track and a helium airhip to emulate a free-floating object in space. The latter is a novel concept proposed by the applicant for emulating the dynamics of objects in space in a standard environment of a laboratory. Ths airship is equipped with six propellers to allow it to translate and rotate. It also carries a grapple fixture---a small handle where the robot can grasp it. To date, the applicant and her research personnel have developed basic functionalities to allow the robot to follow a specified trajectory and to track a visual target mounted on the airship. The next phases of this research require the addition of two pieces of equipment to the facility: a sensor which would be mounted on the airship to measure its motion in the laboratory and a sensor, to be mounted at the robot tip which would  measure the forces and moments exerted on the airship during and after capture. With the integration of these two pieces of equipment, the applicant will be able to continue her research on developing motion planning and control strategies whereby the robot can automatically track the motion of the airship, determine a trajectory which would allow it to intercept the airship,  grasp it by the grapple fixture and to control the motion of the complete system after the capture.