Design of a Redundant Dual-arm Robotic Satellite System for Ground Verification in Microgravity Environments

MEI Hao; ZHOU Qinghua; WANG Yaobing; ZHAO Zhijun

doi:10.7643/ issn.1672-9242.2026.02.009

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Equipment Environmental Engineering ›› 2026, Vol. 23 ›› Issue (2) : 72-83. DOI: 10.7643/ issn.1672-9242.2026.02.009

Aviation and Aerospace Equipment

Design of a Redundant Dual-arm Robotic Satellite System for Ground Verification in Microgravity Environments

MEI Hao¹, ZHOU Qinghua^1,*, WANG Yaobing², ZHAO Zhijun²

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Abstract

The work aims to present a novel redundant dual-arm system tailored for high-fidelity ground-based verification under space microgravity conditions to a new paradigm for robotic satellite design and contribute to enhancing the reliability of on-orbit servicing operations, so as to meet the stringent requirements for high dexterity and robust stability in on-orbit servicing by robotic satellites. Taking into account the base drift induced by microgravity and the rational allocation of redundant degrees of freedom (DOFs), a novel dual-arm robotic satellite architecture was developed, integrating continuum biomimetic redundant manipulators equipped with coupled-motion joints and rear-mounted actuation realized via cable-driven mechanisms. A simplified forward kinematic model was formulated based on the screw theory. By exploiting the inherent coupling constraints of the mechanism, the spatial Jacobian matrix was subject to dimensionality reduction, enabling an efficient iterative solution to inverse kinematics through the pseudoinverse of the reduced Jacobian. A MATLAB/Simulink simulation framework was established, and numerical experiments were conducted to validate the efficacy of the proposed kinematic formulation. The simplified forward and inverse kinematic models, derived by leveraging the coupling constraints, were verified to be mathematically consistent and computationally effective. When implemented in the simulation environment, the system successfully accomplished both trajectory-tracking tasks and coordinated dual-arm manipulation missions as prescribed. The proposed redundant dual-arm configuration achieves a significant reduction in actuated DOFs while preserving the physical joint count and biomimetic continuum bending capability. The screw-theory-based simplified kinematic modeling approach, together with the validated simulation framework, demonstrates high fidelity and reliability, thereby providing a solid theoretical foundation for future research on robotic satellite systems operating in microgravity environments and their ground-based experimental validation.

Key words

space robot / dual-arm system / redundant manipulator / screw theory / kinematics / Jacobian matrix / trajectory tracking

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MEI Hao, ZHOU Qinghua, WANG Yaobing, ZHAO Zhijun. Design of a Redundant Dual-arm Robotic Satellite System for Ground Verification in Microgravity Environments[J]. Equipment Environmental Engineering. 2026, 23(2): 72-83 https://doi.org/10.7643/ issn.1672-9242.2026.02.009

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