Optimal coupling ratio selection for flexible appendage actuators

Articulated and flexible spacecraft appendages requiring precise pointing usually depend on rotary, gear-coupled actuators that are driven by dc servomotors or stepper motors; these are connected to backlashless gear trains with high coupling ratios. Existing methods for selecting gear ratios that minimize the power dissipated in moving a rigid, fixed base load are presently extended to simultaneously minimize both the required actuator power and the vibrational coupling between a rigid-body spacecraft and a flexible load, with one (generally damped) torsional degree-of- freedom. (O.C.)