With the increasing use of the International Space Station, humans have more opportunities to work in space. In space, a mobility device that operates efficiently is needed. In this research, a mobility system called the “Tether Space Mobility Device” (hereinafter called TSMD) is proposed. In general, the tether is a cable or a wire rope. The proposed system has a mechanism that uses the tether for enabling a human to move to a target point. However, this system has the problem that the center of mass of the human and that of the TSMD are different from the direct line to the target point. Then, the human is rotated by the tension of the tether. Thus, to use this device safely, rotation of the human body must be controlled. For this reason, a numerical simulation model is proposed. The numerical model is composed of three rigid bodies and one flexible body that can express motion with large deformation and large displacement. In this model, winding motion of the tether can be expressed. An experiment of the TSMD was designed to move under two-dimensional microgravity. The experiment confirmed the validity of the numerical simulation model. The possibility of the mobility device using the tether and the influence of the control system are discussed.
Development of Tether Space Mobility Device
2014
20 Seiten
Article/Chapter (Book)
English
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