Abstract

Future on-orbit servicing and assembly missions will require space robots capable of manoeuvring safely around
their target. Several challenges arise when modelling, controlling and planning the motion of such systems,
therefore, new methodologies are required. A safe approach towards the grasping point implies that the space
robot must be able to use the additional degrees of freedom offered by the spacecraft base to aid the arm attain
the target and avoid collisions and singularities. The controlled-floating space robot possesses this particularity
of motion and will be utilised in this paper to design an optimal path generator. The path generator, based on a
Genetic Algorithm, takes advantage of the dynamic coupling effect and the controlled motion of the spacecraft
base to safely attain the target. It aims to minimise several objectives whilst satisfying multiple constraints. The
key feature of this new path generator is that it requires only the Cartesian position of the point to grasp as
an input, without prior knowledge a desired path. The results presented originate from the trajectory tracking
using a nonlinear adaptive