Flexible Catch Claw-type Space Debris Capture Mechanism Based on Constant Torque Spring Deployment

Space debris cleaning technology can not only save scarce orbit resources, but also protect satellites and space stations in orbit, which has important research significance. Combination of reliability and adaptability is the key for space debris cleaning devices to capture debris. A design scheme of flexible catch claw-type space debris capture mechanism based on constant torque spring deployment is proposed, which has the advantages of light weight, high capture reliability and high adaptability. The new flexible catching mechanism is mainly composed of a multi-finger flexible catching claw, a transmission device, and a locking device. In the multi-finger flexible catching claw, a constant torque spring is used as a passive drive deployment mechanism, and a carbon fiber rod is used as an actuator. The transmission device uses a ball screw to drive the link mechanism to move. The locking device provides a controllable deployment function at a predetermined position. This paper introduces the structure design of the capture mechanism and the research on synchronized deployment of the catch claws. Finally, the kinetic simulation results for evaluating the capture performance are given.