E.A. Rakshin1, A.N. Timofeev2, A.Yu. Kolesnikov3, L.V. Podkolzina4

1–4 Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University (St. Petersburg, Russia)

To service hard-to-reach equipment in the Arctic zone, which is far from the places of residence of specialists and roads with an acceptable level of cross-country ability, a docking and gripping device installed on a mobile robot is proposed. The main tasks of such robots are monitoring, routine maintenance and repair of equipment. Examples of serviced facilities are oil production equipment, repeaters, communications and information flow management facilities, environmental protection facilities. In case of emergency, urgent movement of service personnel to the place of work is not always possible. The relevance of this type of robotization is determined by the importance of reducing the frequency and duration of people's stay in areas unfavorable for living and working. Manipulation tasks arise due to the contradiction of the mass-dimensional characteristics of the controlled devices. For this reason, large objects are connected by a rigid connection in the form of a docking unit with a small stroke and a large force, and not cooperative objects by means of a gripping device with a large stroke but a smaller force. Docking involves a two-way connection. As a result, the design of a universal gripping-docking device is proposed. As a result, the problems of coordinating the mechanisms of docking with the manipulator and large-sized working bodies of a mobile robot for servicing hard-to-reach equipment in Arctic conditions are being considered. Operation of both multipurpose gripping device and two coupling mechanisms is provided from one drive. The design of the gripping-docking device is proposed and its kinematics are investigated. The product model implies configurable dimensions and parameters during docking, which allows you to expand the range of grab-docking devices.

Rakshin E.A., Timofeev A.N., Kolesnikov A.Yu., Podkolzina L.V. Coordination of mechanisms pickup-docking device. Dynamics of complex systems. 2022. V. 16. № 2. P. 5−9. DOI: 10.18127/j19997493-202202-01 (in Russian).

1. Vasil'ev I.A. Upravlenie gruppirovkoj spasatel'nyh robotov dlya raboty v prirodno-klimaticheskih usloviyah Arktiki. Arktika: istoriya i sovremennost' 2017. № 1. S. 226–234 (in Russian).
2. Baburin V.L., Badina S.V., Goryachko M.D., Zemcov S.P. Riski opasnyh prirodnyh yavlenij dlya urbanizirovannyh prostranstv Arkticheskoj zony Rossii. Prirodopol'zovanie v Arktike: sovremennoe sostoyanie i perspektivy razvitiya. 2015. № 1. S. 35–44 (in Russian).
3. Lopota A.V., SHubin P.K. Konceptual'nye voprosy razrabotki robotizirovannyh sistem dlya poiska i spasaniya lyudej, terpyashchih bedstvie, v usloviyah Arktiki. Robototekhnika i tekhnicheskaya kibernetika. 2018. № 1. S. 3–9 (in Russian).
4. McFatter J. NASA Docking System Block 1: NASA’s New Direct Electric Docking System Supporting ISS and Future Human Space Exploration [Electronic resource]. – URL: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20180004167/downloads/20180004167.pdf (date of treatment: 12.05.2022).
5. Shen W., Kovac R.M. Rubenstein SINGO: A single-end-operative and genderless connector for self-reconfiguration, self-assembly and self-healing. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. 2009. № 1. P. 4253–4258.
6. Robotic Transfer and Interfaces for External ISS Payloads [Electronic resource]. – URL: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/ 20140008717/downloads/20140008717.pdf?attachment=true (date of treatment 12.05.2022).
7. Belonozhko P.I. Kosmicheskaya robototekhnika: opyt i perspektivy razvitiya. Vozdushno-kosmicheskaya sfera. 2018. № 1. S. 84–93 (in Russian).
8. Wu J., Fan S., Ni F., Liu H. A space-saving end-effector with capture and actuation transmission capabilities. 2014 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics. 2014. № 1. P. 2203–2208.
9. Gelmi R. Design of a compact tool exchange device for space robotics applications. Symposium on Advanced Space Technologies for Robotics and Automation. 2018. № 1 P. 1–7.
10. Yuen B., Hoang M.T., Dong X. Universal activation function for machine. Learning. Sci Rep. 2021. № 11. P. 1–11.