Force-based delay compensation for hardware-in-the-loop simulation divergence of 6-DOF space contact

The contact process of a space docking device needs verification before launching. The verification cannot only rely on the software simulation since the contact dynamic models are not accurate enough yet, especially when the geometric shape of the device is complex. Hardware-in-the-loop simulation is a choice to perform the ground test, where the contact dynamic model is replaced by a real device and the real contact occurs. However, the Hardware-in-the-loop simulation suffers from energy increase and instability since time delay is unavoidable. The existing delay compensation methods are mainly focused on a uniaxial or three-dimensional contact. In this paper, a force-based delay compensation method is proposed for the hardware-in-the-loop simulation of a six degree-of-freedom space contact. A six degree-of-freedom dynamic model of the spacecraft motion is derived, and a six degree-of-freedom delay compensation method is proposed. The delay is divided into track delay and measurement delay, which are compensated individually. Experiment results show that the proposed delay compensation method is effective for the six degree-of-freedom space contact.