Dynamics and control of small aerial vehicles in contact with environment and of space webs for debris removal.

与环境接触的小型飞行器以及清除碎片的空间网的动力学和控制。

• 批准号: RGPIN-2014-06165
• 负责人: Sharf, Inna
• 金额: $ 2.4万
• 依托单位: McGill University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2018-01-01 至 2019-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=664888
• 关键词: Dynamics; control; small; aerial; vehicles

This proposal addresses fundamental problems in dynamics and control in the context of two applications: autonomous operation of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and space debris removal. The research will ultimately benefit the development community and companies building and marketing UAVs. It will also serve to advance technologies for active space debris removal, which is necessary for a continued and sustainable utilization of near-earth orbits for satellite operation and space science. The funding of this grant will lead to training of five highly qualified personnel through their graduate studies and direct participation in the proposed research topics. **Small unmanned aerial vehicles have become a research focus of many robotics groups around the world as applications of these systems have been rapidly expanding into civilian domains. UAVs present numerous challenges in the traditional areas of mobile robotics, in particular, systems design, control law development, state estimation, localization and mapping, path planning, obstacle avoidance and coordinated operation of multiple UAVs. In the present proposal, we depart from these conventional topics and investigate, for the first time, the problems of dynamics and control of small rotary vehicles, such as quadrotors, under the conditions of impact with the environment. We are motivated by the fact that operation of UAVs carries with it a significant risk of collision with surrounding objects, particularly indoors and in unknown, unstructured environments. Therefore, to make small UAV systems safer, to expand their autonomy and ultimately achieve their acceptance in the society at large, our goal for this grant is to investigate dynamics modeling and response of an aerial vehicle under impact conditions, and to develop control methodologies to enable a rotary UAV to recover from a collision with its environment. **Our second targeted application stems from the applicant's leading-edge research in the area of space robotics, and specifically, problems associated with autonomous capture of malfunctioning satellites and space debris. The case for on-orbit servicing and space debris remediation is unequivocal at this point and there is little debate on the role and necessity for these missions. Our research to date has lead to innovative solutions to problems of motion planning and control for capture of unknown tumbling targets using a robotic arm mounted on the servicing ("chaser") satellite. We plan to expand our efforts towards identifying a feasible solution for active removal of large space debris, by investigating the employment of tethered space webs for capture, subsequent stabilization and de-orbiting of the debris. The space webs (also called tethered nets) concept has been investigated by only a few researchers to date. To our knowledge, there are no comprehensive modeling tools which can be used for a sufficiently accurate, yet computationally practical simulation of the complete debris removal scenario. This would require analysis and modeling of all phases of the mission, starting from tether-net deployment, through impact and ensuing contact between the net and the target, and ending with transporting the debris to a graveyard or lower orbit. Among the aforementioned phases, the impact between the net and the target and subsequent enclosure and stabilization of the target represent the most challenging and least researched problems in dynamics modeling and control of debris capture with a space web. This will be the main area of our investigation on space debris removal in the context of the present grant. Both topics to be considered build on the applicant's prior research and expertise in contact mechanics and dynamics modelling.

该提案解决了两个应用中动力学和控制的基本问题：小型无人机（UAV）的自主操作和空间碎片清除。该研究最终将使开发社区以及无人机制造和营销公司受益。它还将有助于推进主动空间碎片清除技术，这对于持续和可持续地利用近地轨道进行卫星运行和空间科学是必要的。这笔赠款的资助将通过研究生学习和直接参与拟议的研究课题来培训五名高素质人才。 **随着小型无人机的应用迅速扩展到民用领域，小型无人机已成为世界各地许多机器人团体的研究重点。无人机在移动机器人的传统领域提出了许多挑战，特别是系统设计、控制律开发、状态估计、定位和绘图、路径规划、避障和多无人机的协调操作。在本提案中，我们脱离了这些传统主题，首次研究了小型旋转飞行器（例如四旋翼飞行器）在环境影响条件下的动力学和控制问题。我们的动机是，无人机的运行存在与周围物体发生碰撞的巨大风险，特别是在室内和未知的非结构化环境中。因此，为了使小型无人机系统更安全，扩大其自主性并最终获得整个社会的认可，我们这笔赠款的目标是研究飞行器在撞击条件下的动力学建模和响应，并开发控制方法使旋转无人机能够从与其环境的碰撞中恢复。 **我们的第二个目标申请源于申请人在空间机器人领域的前沿研究，特别是与自主捕获故障卫星和空间碎片相关的问题。在这一点上，在轨服务和空间碎片修复的理由是明确的，并且对这些任务的作用和必要性几乎没有争论。 迄今为止，我们的研究已经为运动规划和控制问题提供了创新的解决方案，以使用安装在服务（“追击者”）卫星上的机械臂捕获未知的翻滚目标。我们计划加大努力，通过调查使用系留空间网捕获碎片、随后使碎片稳定和脱离轨道，来确定主动清除大型空间碎片的可行解决方案。迄今为止，只有少数研究人员对太空网（也称为系留网）概念进行了研究。据我们所知，没有全面的建模工具可以用于对完整的碎片清除场景进行足够准确且计算实用的模拟。这需要对任务的所有阶段进行分析和建模，从系绳网部署开始，到系绳网与目标之间的撞击和随后的接触，最后将碎片运送到墓地或较低轨道。在上述阶段中，网与目标之间的撞击以及随后目标的包围和稳定代表了空间网碎片捕获的动力学建模和控制中最具挑战性和研究最少的问题。这将是我们在本次赠款背景下调查空间碎片清除的主要领域。要考虑的两个主题都建立在申请人之前在接触力学和动力学建模方面的研究和专业知识的基础上。