Hierarchical Control Design for Space Robots with Application to In-Orbit Servicing Missions

Pietro Bruschi

Published: 2025/9/26

Abstract

In-Orbit Servicing and Active Debris Removal require advanced robotic capabilities for capturing and detumbling uncooperative targets. This work presents a hierarchical control framework for autonomous robotic capture of tumbling objects in space. A simulation environment is developed, incorporating sloshing dynamics of the chaser, a rarely studied effect in space robotics. The proposed controller combines an inner Lyapunov-based robust control loop for multi-body dynamics with an outer loop addressing an extended inverse kinematics problem. Simulation results show improved robustness and adaptability compared to existing control schemes.

Hierarchical Control Design for Space Robots with Application to In-Orbit Servicing Missions | SummarXiv | SummarXiv