CONSTRAINT FORCE ALGORITHM FOR DYNAMICS MODELING OF MULTIBODY SPACECRAFT IN ARBITRARY TOPOLOGY

The magnitudes of the constraint forces at the joints in a multibody spacecraft are critical parameters in designing the joints structure. Therefore, it is desirable to efficiently calculate the constraint forces in the dynamics simulation. In this work, a modified constraint force algorithm (MCFA) for dynamics of arbitrary multibody spacecraft is developed. The constraint forces can be directly obtained when solving for the system's motion. The MCFA is applicable to an arbitrary multibody spacecraft in tree topology or with closed-loop structures. The accuracy of MCFA is validated through numerical simulations of a space robot with multiple manipulators.