Development of a High-Accuracy Inertia Simulation System for Drive Joints of Space Station Transfer Arm

Abstract

With a focus on crewed spaceflight and space station construction, this research developed a high-accuracy inertia simulation system for the drive joints of the space station transfer arm. To achieve this objective, both mechanical inertia and electric inertia simulation methods were utilized. To enhance the dynamic characteristics of the electric inertia simulation system, a rigorous electric inertia simulation model was developed, and a comprehensive controller, along with a feedforward controller based on the structure invariance principle, was designed. The simulation results demonstrated that the controller significantly enhances the control performance of the system, with extraneous torque being suppressed by more than 95%. The mechanical inertia simulation method accurately models the invariant inertia, whereas the electric inertia simulation method can precisely simulate the time-varying inertia. To validate the effectiveness of the simulation system, experiments were conducted. The results confirm that the electric inertia simulation method is comparable to the mechanical inertia simulation method in aerospace engineering applications. The simulation performance of the electric inertia simulation system for both constant and time-varying inertia is excellent.