This course will cover the following topics: ·         What is robot: history and applications ·         Basics of feedback control ·         Design consideration in space robots ·         Orbital robotics o   History of robotic manipulators for orbital missions o   Kinematics, dynamics and control of free-flying robots o   Vibration dynamics and suppression control o   Target capture and impact dynamics o   Hardware test bed principles for the motion in micro-gravity ·         Lunar/planetary robotics o   History of lunar/planetary robots o   Mobility system design for surface locomotion o   Wheel-soil traction mechanics o   Sensing and navigation o   Localization and mapping ·         Teleoperation and autonomy o   Communication bandwidth and latency in teleoperation o   Shared autonomy
Outcome:
Having taken this course students will be able to ·         Answer to “what”, “why” and “how” questions about robots and their application to space missions. ·         Outline the basics of robot control and the challenges of space robotics. ·         Describe the principle core technologies for both Earth orbital robotics and lunar/planetary robotics.