Long-Reach Robotic Manipulation for Assembly and Outfitting of Lunar Structures
This addresses the need for semi- or fully-autonomous robots to perform tasks like cable routing in lunar construction, though it appears incremental as it builds on existing robotic manipulation concepts.
The paper tackles the problem of robotic manipulation for lunar infrastructure construction by developing a long-reach manipulator with a deployable composite boom, achieving an average endpoint accuracy error of less than 15 mm for boom lengths up to 1.8 m.
Future infrastructure construction on the lunar surface will require semi- or fully-autonomous operation from robots deployed at the build site. In particular, tasks such as electrical outfitting necessitate transport, routing, and fine manipulation of cables across large structures. To address this need, we present a compact and long-reach manipulator incorporating a deployable composite boom, capable of performing manipulation tasks across large structures and workspaces. We characterize the deflection, vibration, and blossoming characteristics inherent to the deployable structure, and present a manipulation control strategy to mitigate these effects. Experiments indicate an average endpoint accuracy error of less than 15 mm for boom lengths up to 1.8 m. We demonstrate the approach with a cable routing task to illustrate the potential for lunar outfitting applications that benefit from long reach.