Date of Award

6-2026

Degree Name

MS in Aerospace Engineering

Department/Program

Aerospace Engineering

College

College of Engineering

Advisor

Stephen T. Kwok-Choon

Advisor Department

Aerospace Engineering

Advisor College

College of Engineering

Abstract

This work describes the development of a 3 Degree-of-Freedom (DOF) robotic manipulator for use on a free-floating planar air-bearing vehicle. The system developed aims to serve as a foundation for future space robotics research at the California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly)’s Space Robotics Laboratory. Systems doc- umentation describes conceptual operation and architecture of the proposed system: Terrestrial Robotic Unit for Multibody Analysis and Navigation (TRUMAN). The key operation of TRUMAN is to study a self launch maneuver of a free-floating ve- hicle including 4 distinct phases: launch off a fixed rail, coast, reorientation using manipulator motion, and capture of a fixed rail. A discussion on relevant reference frames and the mass center of multibody systems supports analysis of the system. Various control algorithms are proposed to drive an end effector to various positions or along trajectories. Static base testing of the initial prototype demonstrates hard- ware and software capabilities. This testing revealed significant plastic deformation of Polylactic Acid (PLA) and Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol (PETG) parts around motor-shaft to link interfaces motivating a switch to machined aluminum compo- nents. The final prototype featured flat aluminum structural components which did not permanently deform under torque loads. Static base testing of the redesigned ma- nipulator showed significant improvements in terms of backlash and dynamic effects. The manipulator was integrated with a free-floating air-bearing vehicle to demon- strate 2 phases of the self launch maneuver in a planar near frictionless environment. An experiment conducted in this work demonstrates the launch and coast phase of the proposed maneuver, indicating a range of possible launch velocities. Future work can improve hardware on TRUMAN and develop control for the reorient and capture phases of the proposed maneuver.

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