Modular Architecture for a Control Unit for a Martian Robotic Arm

The servo control of a multi degree of freedom (DoF) robotic arm presents major architectural issues since typically it requires the multiple and concurrent control of electrical motors together with the conditioning and acquisition of multiple sensors signals (current, position, torque). In the frame of Mars Sample Return project - Sample Transfer Arm (STA), a concept of a modular unit based on building blocks has been designed by means of single rail main power converter with dedicated downstream Servo Control Electronics module offering the possibility to work in hot redundancy. The preliminary architecture is here presented with the relevant preliminary system analysis.