Rapid satellite capture by a space robot based on delay compensation

Purpose Rapid satellite capture by a free-floating space robot is a challenge problem because of no-fixed base and time-delay issues. This paper aims to present a modified target capturing control scheme for improving the control performance. Design/methodology/approach For handling such control problem including time delay, the modified scheme is achieved by adding a delay calibration algorithm into the visual servoing loop. To identify end-effector motions in real time, a motion predictor is developed by partly linearizing the space robot kinematics equation. By this approach, only ground-fixed robot kinematics are involved in the predicting computation excluding the complex space robot kinematics calculations. With the newly developed predictor, a delay compensator is designed to take error control into account. For determining the compensation parameters, the asymptotic stability condition of the proposed compensation algorithm is also presented. Findings The proposed method is conducted by a credible three-dimensional ground experimental system, and the experimental results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Practical implications Because the delayed camera signals are compensated with only ground-fixed robot kinematics, this proposed satellite capturing scheme is particularly suitable for commercial on-orbit services with cheaper on-board computers. Originality/value This paper is original as an attempt trying to compensate the time delay by taking both space robot motion predictions and compensation error control into consideration and is valuable for rapid and accurate satellite capture tasks.