Analysis of the Design Process of Mechanisms for Space Applications

Abstract

Since the 1950s, there has been a rising interest in the space exploration, influencing the development of space engineering. Leading government agencies throughout the world, such as NASA, ESA, JAXA or Roscosmos, have successfully conducted numerous missions that aimed at increasing our knowledge about the space. Spacecrafts, used in these missions, would not be able to fulfil their tasks without mechanisms. As new missions are planned, the space engineering sector grows and new companies are able to become agencies’ contractors for the purposes of design and development of mechanisms for space-crafts. However, the complex and iterative design process of space mechanism differs from the design approach used for terrestrial applications and it is important to recognize and know these differences. The paper presents selected aspects of design methodology for terrestrial and space mechanisms. Basing on the mobile robot for exploring purposes project, both similarities and differences between these two approaches are presented. These include general guidelines, design requirements, as well as verification process stages and corresponding methods.