Universal Docking Assembly Design for Automatic Assembly of Large Untight Structures in Near-Earth Space

Abstract

In this article, the basic design solutions of the nodal element for the assembly of a truss mounted on a spacecraft are proposed. Soldering is considered as an automatic assembly method. The node element implements thermal contact, mechanical docking without backlash, provides transmission lines of digital and analog (if necessary) signals, as well as the transmission of electricity through a 27V network. At the same time, geometric parameters of the docking interface make it possible to assemble the truss on the basis of these nodal elements using existing space robots. The strength, thermal and residual deformations analyses are provided.