SPACE CRAWLING ROBOT FEET ADHESION MECHANISM RESEARCH BASED ON DISCRETE ELEMENT METHOD

According to the on-orbit servicing requirements of space cooperative spacecraft, a new type of space crawling robot was proposed. The robot feet were designed into micro array structure that based on the bionics principle and reference the micro structure on feet of Gecko. Based on the theory of interface micro mechanics and tribology, using discrete element software to establish the simulation model. Modeling analysis the gecko’s adhesive ability and the rapid stripping ability. Establish a mechanical model of single seta in different conditions. Simulate the adhesion and stripping process of the seta in different angle. Analysis the adhesive property of a single seta. The simulation results demonstrate that using different ways of movement can achieve different adhesive ability of single seta.