Hybrid-Compliant System for Soft Capture of Uncooperative Space Debris

Active debris removal (ADR) is positioned by space agencies as an in-orbit task of great importance for stabilizing the exponential growth of space debris. Most of the already developed capturing systems are designed for large specific cooperative satellites, which leads to expensive one-to-one solutions. This paper proposed a versatile hybrid-compliant mechanism to target a vast range of small uncooperative space debris in low Earth orbit (LEO), enabling a profitable one-to-many solution. The system is custom-built to fit into a CubeSat. It incorporates active (with linear actuators and impedance controller) and passive (with revolute joints) compliance to dissipate the impact energy, ensure sufficient contact time, and successfully help capture a broader range of space debris. A simulation study was conducted to evaluate and validate the necessity of integrating hybrid compliance into the ADR system. This study found the relationships among the debris mass, the system’s stiffness, and the contact time and provided the required data for tuning the impedance controller (IC) gains. This study also demonstrated the importance of hybrid compliance to guarantee the safe and reliable capture of a broader range of space debris.