NASA, Partners, Advance In-Space Assembly Robotics

A robotic arm moving a solar array up
and down along a space structure, and a
robotic hand and jigging system
autonomously building truss segments –
sounds like a scene from a science
fiction movie, but it’s just another day in
the office for NASA engineers.
This week marked the last in a series of
ground tests demonstrating the
capabilities of the Tendon Actuated
Lightweight In-Space MANipulator
(TALISMAN) robotic arm; the Strut
Assembly, Manufacturing, Utility &
Robotic Aid (SAMURAI); and the NASA
INtelligent Jigging and Assembly Robot
(NINJAR) components of the
Commercial Infrastructure for Robotic
Assembly and Services (CIRAS) project.
Earlier this year, the team of engineers
manipulated the newer, longer arm back
and forth from folded to extended
positions to demonstrate that it is fully
operational, then they showed it could
pull a truss out from being stowed in a
compartment. In this demonstration, the
TALISMAN arm was used to move a
solar array from one truss section to
another and to install the array.
SAMURAI, the robotic hand that passes
truss parts, and NINJAR, the jigging
robot that holds the pieces in place while
they are fastened, have similarly been
put to the test this year. The team first
used a remote control to operate the two
robots and assemble truss segments.
This most recent test accomplished an
autonomous truss build, using only code
and no remote control.
CIRAS is a part of the In-Space Robotic
Manufacturing and Assembly (IRMA)
project portfolio, managed by NASA’s
Technology Demonstration Missions
Program and sponsored by NASA’s
Space Technology Mission Directorate.
The CIRAS team includes prime
contractor Northrop Grumman, supported
by its subsidiary, Space Logistics, LLC;
NASA’s Langley Research Center in
Hampton, Virginia; NASA’s Glenn
Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio;
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in
Greenbelt, Maryland; and the U.S. Naval
Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C.
Phase 1 of the CIRAS project will end
later this year. Northrop Grumman and
Langley recently submitted a proposal
for a Phase 2 contract to demonstrate
these same capabilities on orbit.