Prototype Design and Performance Tests of Beijing Astronaut Robot

Introduction With the development of space technology, a space station is a vital approach for human beings to study and research space, but its construction and maintenance require extravehicular activity (EVA) carried out by astronauts [1]. Since the space environment has the characteristics of high vacuum, large temperature differences, high radiation, and microgravity, which result in the failure of continuous working time and inefficiency, humans in space require a large and a complex life support system, an environmental control system, and life-saving system, and requires a lot of uninterrupted material supply [2]. There are many operational tasks in space, so the robot needs the ability of moving in a wide range and the ability of precise work. [...]the power supply on the space station is limited, so the path planning of the space robot should be power-saving [8,9]. Astronauts are weightless and floating in space. [...]there are hundreds of aluminum handrails and poles on the extravehicular surface of the space station (as shown in Figure 1) for astronauts to get themselves to the expected position during spacewalks and operations. The conditions of the extravehicular surface are kind of similar to the structure of tree crown. [...]referring to the simple physical structure and stable motion pattern, a new pattern of a hybrid bionic robot, called the Beijing Astronaut Robot, prototype is design is developed and performance tests are presented in this paper. 2.