Kinematic analysis and fault-tolerant trajectory planning of space manipulator under a single joint failure

Abstract A space manipulator plays an important role in spacecraft capturing, repairing, maintenance, and so on. However, the harsh space environment will cause its joints fail to work. For a non-redundant manipulator, single joint locked failure will cause it to lose one degree of freedom (DOF), hence reducing its movement ability. In this paper, the key problems related to the fault-tolerant including kinematics, workspace, and trajectory planning of a non-redundant space manipulator under single joint failure are handled. First, the analytical inverse kinematics equations are derived for the 5-DOF manipulator formed by locking the failure joint of the original 6-DOF manipulator. Then, the reachable end-effector pose (position and orientation) is determined. Further, we define the missions can be completed by the 5-DOF manipulator. According to the constraints of the on-orbital mission, we determine the grasp envelope required for the end-effector. Combining the manipulability of the manipulator and the performance of its end-effector, a fault tolerance parameter is defined and a planning method is proposed to generate the reasonable trajectory, based on which the 5-DOF manipulator can complete the desired tasks. Finally, typical cases are simulated and the simulation results verify the proposed method.