Orbital Robotics Lab

What is the Orbital Robotics Lab? 

The Orbital Robotics Lab is part of ESA’s Automation and Robotics laboratory, accommodating its robotics and GNC activities. It supports the development of existing and upcoming missions as well as R&D activities in the fields of Active Debris Removal (in the framework of Clean Space initiative) and landing and sampling on low-gravity bodies. It comprises facilities (ORBIT - FLAT FLOOR, VICON), platforms (REACSA free-floating, REACSA tethered, MANTIS) and docking mechanism (GIMLI) available for student teams. 

Enjoy the video below to discover all the platforms! For the Orbital Robotics Lab chapter go to minute 47:24. 

ORBIT - Orbital Robotics Bench for Integrated Technology 

At the heart of the Orbital Robotics Lab is the flat floor with a size of 4.8 m x 9 m, an overall flatness < 0.8 (± 0.1) mm and a maximum inclination < 0.3 mm/m. This facility provides a suitable analogue to the microgravity space environment, albeit constrained to two dimensions, simulating microgravity in three dimensions (2 translational, 1 rotational). Three rows of 45 mm Bosch-Rexroth aluminium profiles at the walls provide universal mounting points (planetary surface mock-ups, etc. ). The friction reduction is achieved by creating a stable air gap between air bearings/cushions of a floating platform and the extremely flat floor. The payload is placed on top of the air bearing platform, which consists of the air bearings/cushions and the pneumatic system. Compressed air is stored locally on the platform or is provided by a continuous air supply. Strict requirements on the floor in terms of flatness, inclination and surface roughness are necessary to avoid drift and friction of the air bearing platform. 

VICON motion capturing system 

A VICON motion tracking system with 44 cameras covering the entire working volume is available in the laboratory to obtain the precise pose of any system. The system is based on IR reflective markers and can record data at 250 Hz with sub-millimetre precision.

Astronaut Interaction in weightlessness

A human can be on a free-floating platform to interact with objects, tools, or assemblies while experiencing weightlessness. This enables research and experiments in the field of astronaut training and validation of controls for tools to be used in space. When an astronaut touches an object in space, they float away from it because everything is floating. The experiment in the laboratory can be augmented with a Virtual Reality headset combined with VICON. The analog astronaut would experience a completely immersive weightless orbital environment. The items the user interacts with would exist in reality and in the VR environment, completely tricking the brain into believing it’s in orbit.

MANTIS - MANeuverable Testbed for In-orbit Simulation 

MANTIS is a floating platform for the ORBIT facility in the ORL. Using three air bearings, it floats on the flat floor of the ORBIT facility. This allows the platform to experience frictionless motion in three degrees-of-freedom (2D translation and 1D rotation). This frictionless environment can be used to simulate orbiting systems in microgravity. MANTIS is the smaller floating platform available in the ORL with 100 kg payload capacity and 15 min of autonomy. It is additionally equipped with a universal mounting plate for securing payloads on top. The system is currently a passively floating platform. Hardware has been developed to actuate the platform with eight air propellers that are controlled via a Raspberry Pi, however, the software stack is not yet defined. The platform is currently offered for designing the controller for the air propellers, or as a testing facility to passively float payloads and interact with REACSA.

REACSA (REcap + ACrobat + SAtsim) 

Like MANTIS, REACSA is a floating platform for the ORBIT facility in the ORL. It is larger than MANTIS to better simulate the inertia of a real satellite, and it supports 50kg payload capacity. Its position can be actively controlled, and it can be used either autonomously with 15 min of autonomy, or with a tether for unlimited floating time. The use of both platforms allows to set-up interaction scenarios between two free floating bodies to investigate space contact dynamics or to study other related research areas. Due to the available actuation of REACSA it can take the role of a satellite simulator. 

REACSA is comprised of three platforms (Recap, ACrobat and SAtsim), providing one reaction wheel, 8 air thrusters, 2 compressed air tanks and of course the main air bearing platform. The platform can be mounted in different configurations providing air either from the SatSim tanks (15-minute autonomy) or from a tether (unlimited autonomy). Without SatSim or RECAP to control ACROBAT's movements, it becomes a stand-alone passively floating platform. ACROBAT can then support a payload of up to 100 kg but it does not have any autonomy and requires tethered operation, as the air tanks are located within SatSim. Since this platform can be actively controlled it is primarily envisioned as a testbed for advanced 3 DoF robotic controller design. 

GIMLI - Gripping Interface for Manipulation, Locking, and Interaction 

In a rendezvous and capture scenario with the MANTIS or REACSA floating platforms, GIMLI can be used to be the docking mechanism. It allows compliant connection of different robotic systems via its two main parts: the active part, which has a capturing mechanism, and a passive part, which moves into the active part’s gripper and is being captured. The passive part is a spherical shaped item made from aluminium (no electronic interface). The active part consists of a capturing mechanism, motors, sensors, and an electronic control and communication system. For these scenarios, a controller for REACSA still needs to be developed, which is why any experiment proposal including GIMLI would have a more extensive implementation time. 

Programme and technical constraints 

Teams selected to participate in the programme are guided and supported by ESA experts and members of the European Low Gravity Research Association (ELGRA) as they navigate through all stages of the project, from the initial stages of design through to the operation and data collection phases of their experiment. 

While defining their projects, applicants should keep in mind the following constraints that apply to the experiment and student team (amongst others): 

• Experiments requiring high temperatures, open flames or similar conditions cannot be performed within the ORL. Exceptions may be discussed, but the experiment set-up must be well contained and should present no hazard to either personnel or the ORL. 
• The amount of documentation and reviews necessary for each phase of the programme can be significant, depending on project complexity. Multiple project milestones must be passed for the project to continue to the campaign 

Platform specific documentation and further information 

More detailed information about the Orbital Robotics Lab can be found here. 

All information on the requirements and engineering conditions can be found in the Orbital Robotics Lab User Manual for the ESA Academy Experiments Programme. 

A poster on the Orbital Robotics Lab is available here. 

Please note that the conditions detailed above are subject to change without prior notice.