Open source modular simulation platform for space manipulator dynamics and control

Space manipulator is the main actuator of on-orbit service technology, and modeling accuracy, control and simulation analysis are the key to numerical experiments. The main problem of current manipulator control simulation method is that dynamic calculation and control simulation are separated, and the simulation program is not open source. Aiming at the control simulation problem of space manipulator, an open-source modular simulation model establishment and controller design platform is proposed to realize closed-loop dynamic calculation and control simulation. The platform is based on the open source multi-body dynamics calculation software MBDyn, which establishes a modular simulation model according to the task requirements to avoid complex mathematical modeling. The Xcos simulation communication interface is developed based on the open source scientific and engineering calculation software Scilab, it exchanges data with modularized controller to realize real-time joint control simulation. Taking a six-degree-of-freedom manipulator as an example, dynamics and control simulations were carried out, and the simulation results showed the effectiveness of the platform. It can be applied to a variety of multi-body dynamics control simulation schemes, open source and has good versatility.