{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/97516"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/97516","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Development of miniature robotic arm manipulators to enable smallsat clusters","abstract":"This Thesis was approved for publication on 2017-04-28 at 13:56.","abstract_html":"This Thesis was approved for publication on 2017-04-28 at 13:56.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Wenger, Thibaut"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"M.S.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Aerospace Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Ho, Koki"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017-08-10T19:16:23Z","date_published":"2017-08-10T19:16:23Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:34Z","subjects":["Formation flying","CubeSat","In-space assembly","Cluster control"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2017 Thibaut Wenger"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/97516","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Ho, Koki"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Wenger, Thibaut"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2017-08-10T19:16:23Z","2017-04-28","2017-05"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Aerospace Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.S."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Formation flying","CubeSat","In-space assembly","Cluster control"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2017 Thibaut Wenger"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/97516"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["This Thesis was approved for publication on 2017-04-28 at 13:56.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #11135 on 2017-08-10 at 13:47:04","Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-10T19:16:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 WENGER-THESIS-2017.pdf: 4199715 bytes, checksum: bc21a2165f4f0b8c79555f248678c4bd (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4211 bytes, checksum: 246a8038b9b3bcc7c8300d44a078a80d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-04-28","The performances of monolithic spacecraft are limited by their size, mass and cost. For example, the sizes of a communication satellite antenna or of a space telescope primary mirror directly impact their performances. In-space assembly and formation flying missions are the logical responses to this issue. Instead of limited dedicated launches, several small satellites can be piggybacked as secondary payload and work together to accomplish the same mission. Therefore, this concept reduces the cost but also removes the limit of size and mass since more spacecraft can always be added to the formation while increasing robustness (the independent spacecraft are replaceable) and modularity (the reconfiguration of the formation can lead to different outcomes). This research is the result of a collaboration between the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC). It presents the development of an integrated, robust and optimized method to enable scalable small satellites clusters via Clusters Forming On-Board Robotic Manipulators (C-FORM). The physical connection removes the constraint of highly sophisticated control for collision avoidance, the main obstacle of formation flying missions. After the deployment phase, pairs of satellites will sequentially rendezvous, deploy their miniature robotic arms and dock with the help of their end effectors. The dockings will be repeated until the formation is formed. JPL developed and designed both the robotic arms and the end effectors. Under the requirements of the mission, the components were selected for the satellite bus. A simulation was developed in order to model the dynamics of the spacecraft under realistic sensors and actuators to validate the feasibility of this concept. Finally, a quantitative estimation of the amount of fuel the robotic arms can save for formation flying purposes was carried out.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2017-08-10 without embargo terms","The student, Thibaut Wenger, accepted the attached license on 2017-04-28 at 13:05.","The student, Thibaut Wenger, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2017-04-28 at 13:22."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Development of miniature robotic arm manipulators to enable smallsat clusters"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Ho, Koki"],"dc:creator":["Wenger, Thibaut"],"dc:date":["2017-08-10T19:16:23Z","2017-04-28","2017-05"],"dc:description":["This Thesis was approved for publication on 2017-04-28 at 13:56.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #11135 on 2017-08-10 at 13:47:04","Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-10T19:16:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 WENGER-THESIS-2017.pdf: 4199715 bytes, checksum: bc21a2165f4f0b8c79555f248678c4bd (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4211 bytes, checksum: 246a8038b9b3bcc7c8300d44a078a80d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-04-28","The performances of monolithic spacecraft are limited by their size, mass and cost. For example, the sizes of a communication satellite antenna or of a space telescope primary mirror directly impact their performances. In-space assembly and formation flying missions are the logical responses to this issue. Instead of limited dedicated launches, several small satellites can be piggybacked as secondary payload and work together to accomplish the same mission. Therefore, this concept reduces the cost but also removes the limit of size and mass since more spacecraft can always be added to the formation while increasing robustness (the independent spacecraft are replaceable) and modularity (the reconfiguration of the formation can lead to different outcomes). This research is the result of a collaboration between the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC). It presents the development of an integrated, robust and optimized method to enable scalable small satellites clusters via Clusters Forming On-Board Robotic Manipulators (C-FORM). The physical connection removes the constraint of highly sophisticated control for collision avoidance, the main obstacle of formation flying missions. After the deployment phase, pairs of satellites will sequentially rendezvous, deploy their miniature robotic arms and dock with the help of their end effectors. The dockings will be repeated until the formation is formed. JPL developed and designed both the robotic arms and the end effectors. Under the requirements of the mission, the components were selected for the satellite bus. A simulation was developed in order to model the dynamics of the spacecraft under realistic sensors and actuators to validate the feasibility of this concept. Finally, a quantitative estimation of the amount of fuel the robotic arms can save for formation flying purposes was carried out.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2017-08-10 without embargo terms","The student, Thibaut Wenger, accepted the attached license on 2017-04-28 at 13:05.","The student, Thibaut Wenger, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2017-04-28 at 13:22."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/97516"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2017 Thibaut Wenger"],"dc:subject":["Formation flying","CubeSat","In-space assembly","Cluster control"],"dc:title":["Development of miniature robotic arm manipulators to enable smallsat clusters"],"dc:type":["text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Aerospace Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.S."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:34Z"}