Overview of the Chinese Space Station Manipulator

The Chinese Space Station Manipulator system (CSSM) is designed for the missions of relocking spacecraft sections, docking assistance, installing equipment, and maintaining the space station. Therefore, it will lay a foundation for the construction of the Chinese Space Station (CSS). The CSSM system, consisting of two robotic arms, is featured with a high degree of manipulation accuracy, reliability and load capability. Since it is a highly integrated robotic system, combining technologies of mechanics, electronics, thermotics, vision and computer control, the development of the Space Station faces many technical challenges and, therefore, the design and implementation of the robotic system is also challenging. This paper presents an introduction of the Core Space Station Cabin’s Manipulator (CSSCM) which is also referred to as the Chinese Space Station Manipulator. As the major arm of the two-arm CSSM system, the manipulator is a seven degree-of-freedom redundant arm with a distributed control system and movable base system. The paper also describes highlights of eight key technologies of the robotic arm, such as a high-precision servo control and a multi-constrained trajectory planning capability. Our study has shown that the CSSCM design has satisfactorily completed and the program has entered into the manufacturing phase.