Macdonald, Dettwiler and Associates Corporation

Justin Charbonneau

Gavin Hay

Michael Robert Honeybrown

Peter Krimbalis

Andrew Paul Turner

Richard Rembala

Andrew Turner

The present disclosure relates to a low mass system for releasably securing a robotic arm to a spacecraft and also securing various payloads to the robotic arm and to each other, permitting the robotic arm to be both moved from one location to another suitably equipped location on a spacecraft to another and to allow the free end of the robotic arm to be secured to any payload also similarly equipped such that this payload may be manipulated by the robotic arm.

Low-profile manipulator interface system

The present invention provides a capture mechanism for capturing and locking onto the Marman flange located on the exterior surfaces of spacecraft/satellites. The capture mechanism achieves its goal of quickly capturing a client spacecraft by splitting the two basic actions involved into two separate mechanisms. One mechanism performs the quick grasp of the target while the other mechanism rigidises that grasp to ensure that the target is held as firmly as desired.

Spacecraft capture mechanism

Growing community of inventors

Woodbridge, Canada

Justin Charbonneau