This project is to research and develop a self-assembling system (with an option for human remote control) for deploying, storing, docking, and assembling the Space Solar Power System (SSPS) in space. The research challenges include the design for self-assembling components, the control for a self-assembly process, the autonomous docking among components, and the coordination of components' actions for precision maneuvers in space. The project will build upon the latest technologies from self-reconfigurable modular robotics and develop (1) a novel design for building the Intelligent and Reconfigurable Components (IRC) for SSPS; (2) the free-flying "intelligent fiber/rope" "match-maker" (FIMER) robots with self-reconfigurable and self-adjustable tethering for matching, fetching, and docking among IRCs; and (3) a biologically inspired, totally distributed control method called the Digital Hormone Model for planning, executing, and monitoring the self-assembly process. All IRCs and FIMER robots use the same type of docking connectors, and each FIMER robot is a self-adjustable string with free-flying heads that can attach to any connectors in the system. Using these concepts, the sequence of self-assembly can be either pre-programmed in IRCs or remotely controlled by humans. The project will also investigate effective and practical solutions for dynamic control in micro-gravity environments, and new construction techniques for reducing payload for space transportation. All these new technologies will be validated on earth by free-flying prototypes generalized from an existing self-reconfigurable robotics system called CONRO to perform self-assembly in the laboratory, and the results of these experiments will eventually lead to a flight-qualified system for testing in space.
