Attitude dynamic singularities in 3D free-flying manipulators for improved path planning

This paper extends the solution, already
presented to the trajectory planning problem of 2D
free-flying manipulators, to 3D manipulators. It demonstrates
it is possible to design a robotic arm with a
special dynamic singularity (attitude singular configuration),
thus permitting to determine and execute its
trajectory without affecting the attitude of the spacecraft
carrying it. This methodology provides an exact
solution to trajectory planning problems that are usually
dealt with by approximate algorithms based on
the concept of Disturbance Map. After a theoretical introduction,
some educational design examples are presented.