Dual arm coordination in space free-flying robot

The control problem of multiple manipulators installed on a free-flying space robot is presented. Kinematics and dynamics are studied and the generalized Jacobian matrix is formulated for the motion control of a multiarm system. Individual and coordinated control of dual manipulators is discussed. For the coordinated operation, a new method of controlling two arms simultaneously--one arm traces a given path, while the other arm works both to keep the satellite attitude and to optimize the total operation torque of the system--is developed. By means of this control method, an interesting torque optimum behavior is observed and a practical target capture operation is exhibited by computer simulation.