Interface[s] Montréal

Telemanipulation and Robotics

Erick Dupuis

Canadian Space Agency

Autonomous Capture of Free-Flying Satellite

View the presentation [In French]

Over the last 30 years, Canada has invested massively in the development of space robots. In the early 1980’s, the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (also known as Canadarm) became the first manipulator to be used routinely in human spaceflight. In 2002, the Canadarm 2 was launched to the International Space Station and has been an essential element for its construction. Dextre, a dual-arm manipulator, will soon be launched to the ISS to perform maintenance operations.

Building on this heritage, Canada is now poised to take advantage of upcoming opportunities in satellite servicing. Most of the necessary building blocks to enable the rescue and maintenance of on-orbit infrastructure by robotic means already exist. One of the keys to the commercial viability of such a concept will be the ability to conduct operations in an efficient and inexpensive manner. To this end, research has been performed over the last several years to increase the autonomy of robotic systems, enabling them to conduct complex operations with minimum operator intervention.

The German Space Agency (le Deutsches Zentrum für Luft und Raumfhart or DLR) and the Canadian Space Agency are currently developing a technology demonstration mission, called TECSAS, which will demonstrate several strategic technologies in the context of a satellite servicing mission. One of the key operations to be performed by the TECSAS mission is the autonomous capture of a free-flying satellite. In preparation for TECSAS, a laboratory demonstration has been prepared to validate the algorithms in a controlled environment.

The demonstration uses the CSA’s Automation and Robotics Test-bed (CART), a robot equipped with two 7 degrees-of-freedom arms. One of the arms emulates dynamics of the free-flyer while the second second emulates that of the chaser. The chaser robot is equipped with a SARAH hand developed by l’Université Laval and uses a Laser Camera System (LCS) from Neptec to guide the robot throughout the capture sequence.

CART proving stand

Erick Dupuis has joined the l’Agence Spatiale in 1992 and he has filled several roles over the years. He has been a research engineer in robotics and the lead systems engineer for the SPDM Task Verification Facility. He is currently the manager of the robotics group in the Space Technologies Branch and the lead engineer of the Canadian Mars exploration program. As manager of robotics, he is in charge of coordinating the R&D activities and of providing the technical support to in the area of robotics for the Canadian Space Agency. As the lead engineer of the Mars exploration program, he is in charge of the technical aspects of the establishment of a long-term program in Mars exploration for Canada. Erick Dupuis holds a B.Sc.A from the university of Ottawa, a Master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. from McGill University. All of his degrees are in mechanical engineering with specialisation in robotics.