Contact dynamics modelling for the simulation of the Space Station manipulators handling payloads

This paper describes a general approach to the modelling and simulation of contact dynamics for robotic systems. The contact bodies under consideration are arbitrary 3-D objects as long as their bounding surfaces are linear or quadratic. Multiple-contact and body flexibility are considered. Numerical iterative procedure is used to ensure the coupling between local contact forces and system's dynamics at each simulation step. The approach has been implemented and integrated into a generic manipulator simulator currently being used to support the design of the Space Station manipulator systems.