Advanced Motion-force Controller for Space Arms: Experimental Results with the Ground Reference Model of Europa Mission

EUROPA (External Use of Robotics for Payload Automation) is a robotic experiment formerly designed to fly on the International Space Station (ISS) and to perform a realistic end-to-end robotic technology demonstration in exposed environment. The overall scenario is depicted in Figure 1. The robotic workcell design includes: • the robotic arm, based on the existing ASI 7 dof SPIDER arm, used to execute the robotic experiments • the robot controller, to control arm motion and to perform safety checks • the data handling and power unit (DHPU), taking care of interfacing with ISS and of power supply of all the units • the scientific payload and task-board (SPTB), where significant robotic experiments are housed • the hold down mechanism, to latch arm during launch and re-entry phases.