Fault-tolerant design for joint of HIT/DLR space robot arm

The joint reliability design for the HIT/DLR space robotic arm has been discussed in this paper. The redundant controller unit, redundant CAN bus communication unit and latch-up power protection unit have been outlined. The fault-tree of the joint has been built. Moreover, the algorithm for fault detection has been improved, and the fault-tolerant strategies of the joint have been proposed. Experimental results demonstrate the high reliability of the fault-tolerant design for the joint.