A contribution to the dynamics of free-flying space manipulators

This paper deals with the analysis of the motion of free flying space manipulators. One of the problems of this class of robots is that any movement of the joints produces a rotation of its base. This should be avoided. Approximate solutions to this problem have been proposed using the concept of the disturbance map. The paper presents an exact solution showing how a proper design of the robot introduces some dynamic singularities which allow us to plan sequences of movements that do not affect the orientation of the robot base.