Abstract

Space has found itself amidst numerous missions benefitting the life on Earth and for mankind to explore further.
The space community has been in the move of launching various on-orbit missions, tackling the extremities of the space environment, with the use of robots, for performing tasks like assembly, maintenance, repairs, etc. The urge to explore further in the universe for scientific benefits has found the rise of modular Large-Space Telescopes (LASTs). With respect to the challenges of the in-space assembly of LAST, a five Degrees-of Freedom (DoF) End-Over-End Walking Robot (E-Walker) is presented in this paper. The Dynamical Model and Gait Pattern of the E-Walker is discussed with reference to the different phases of its motion. For the initial verification of the E-Walker model, a PID controller was used to make the E-Walker follow the desired trajectory. A mission concept discussing a potential strategy of assembling a 25m LAST with 342 Primary Mirror Units (PMUs) is briefly discussed. Simulation results show the
precise tracking of the E-Walker along a desired trajectory is achieved without exceeding the joint torques.