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China-Space Station/Mechanical Arm
Beijing, China - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of animation simulating mechanical arm working on China's Space Station
2. Mechanical arm
3. SOUNDBITE(Chinese) Liang Changchun, designer, Space Station Arm Control System, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) Fifth Academy(ending with shots 4-5):
"This is the 'elbow' part of the mechanical arm. It contains one joint, which is a central controller. This central controller is the 'brain' of the mechanical arm. Both the movement of the mechanical arm and the transmission of information rely on this central controller."
4. Animation simulating mechanical arm working on China's Space Station
5. Animation displaying mechanical arm's functions
6. Various of animation simulating mechanical arm working on China's Space Station
7. SOUNDBITE(Chinese) Liang Changchun, designer, Space Station Arm Control System, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) Fifth Academy(ending with shots 8-10):
"When the mechanical arm crawls on the cabin, the end-effectors work to capture the target receiver on the cabin wall to realize a fixed connection. There's also a wrist camera on its end, and through the camera's monitoring, it's able to take real time images of what's going on outside the module, on the surface of the space station, or astronauts' operations."
8. Wrist camera on mechanical arm
9. Animation simulating wrist camera on mechanical arm working
10. Various of animation simulating mechanical arm working
11. Various of animation simulating space station
12. SOUNDBITE(Chinese) Liang Changchun, designer, Space Station Arm Control System, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) Fifth Academy(starting by shot 13):
"We take into account the gravity and the temperature in the environment. Some other considerations include cosmic rays, the impacts of single particles, or even the selection of our controllers."
13. Mechanical arm
14. Various of animation simulating space station
Chinese astronauts Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo slipped out of China’s space station core module Tianhe at 11:02 a.m. (Beijing Time) on Sunday with the help of a mechanical arm mounted on Tianhe and started their extravehicular activities (EVAs) for the first time.
The mechanical arm, according to its designer, is the most advanced and sophisticated of its kind ever developed by China, featuring advanced technologies and multiple capabilities.
Liang Changchun, a designer of the space station arm control system, said the arm can reach 10 meters long when fully extended. It has several motorized joints, which allow it to act like a human arm to the maximum extent possible.
The robot is self-relocatable and can reach many parts of the module through an inchworm-like movement. It is able to handle payloads with a weight of 25 metric tons.
The key point of the mechanical arm focuses on its “elbow”, which hosts the central controller of the robot, Liang said.
"This is the ‘elbow’ part of the mechanical arm. It contains one joint, which is a central controller. This central controller is the ‘brain’ of the mechanical arm. Both the movement of the mechanical arm and the transmission of information rely on this central controller," he said.
In addition to having a flexible arm, the mechanical arm also has a keen “antennal nerve”. It is equipped with two end-effectors on its "shoulder" and "wrist", which enable it to grab orbital cabins or goods.
"When the mechanical arm crawls on the cabin, the end-effectors work to capture the target receiver on the cabin wall to realize a fixed connection. There's also a wrist camera on its end, and through the camera's monitoring, it's able to take real time images of what's going on outside the module, on the surface of the space station, or astronauts' operations," said Liang.
Researchers had also taken into full consideration of the operating environment of the mechanical arm to ensure its safety.
"We take into account the gravity and the temperature in the environment. Some other considerations include cosmic rays, the impacts of single particles, or even the selection of our controllers," said Liang.
The arm is critical to the construction and operation of the Chinese space station, called Tiangong, or Heavenly Palace, as it will be used to connect two space labs - scheduled to be launched next year - with the Tianhe module to form the entire station, carry packages from cargo spaceships, capture visiting spacecraft and assist astronauts in their spacewalks, said Liang.
It will also execute a wide range of other tasks such as examining Tiangong's external condition and monitoring the environment outside the spacecraft.
China-Space Station/Mechanical Arm
Dateline : Recent
Location : China
Duration : 2'00
Beijing, China - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of animation simulating mechanical arm working on China's Space Station
2. Mechanical arm
3. SOUNDBITE(Chinese) Liang Changchun, designer, Space Station Arm Control System, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) Fifth Academy(ending with shots 4-5):
"This is the 'elbow' part of the mechanical arm. It contains one joint, which is a central controller. This central controller is the 'brain' of the mechanical arm. Both the movement of the mechanical arm and the transmission of information rely on this central controller."
4. Animation simulating mechanical arm working on China's Space Station
5. Animation displaying mechanical arm's functions
6. Various of animation simulating mechanical arm working on China's Space Station
7. SOUNDBITE(Chinese) Liang Changchun, designer, Space Station Arm Control System, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) Fifth Academy(ending with shots 8-10):
"When the mechanical arm crawls on the cabin, the end-effectors work to capture the target receiver on the cabin wall to realize a fixed connection. There's also a wrist camera on its end, and through the camera's monitoring, it's able to take real time images of what's going on outside the module, on the surface of the space station, or astronauts' operations."
8. Wrist camera on mechanical arm
9. Animation simulating wrist camera on mechanical arm working
10. Various of animation simulating mechanical arm working
11. Various of animation simulating space station
12. SOUNDBITE(Chinese) Liang Changchun, designer, Space Station Arm Control System, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) Fifth Academy(starting by shot 13):
"We take into account the gravity and the temperature in the environment. Some other considerations include cosmic rays, the impacts of single particles, or even the selection of our controllers."
13. Mechanical arm
14. Various of animation simulating space station
Chinese astronauts Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo slipped out of China’s space station core module Tianhe at 11:02 a.m. (Beijing Time) on Sunday with the help of a mechanical arm mounted on Tianhe and started their extravehicular activities (EVAs) for the first time.
The mechanical arm, according to its designer, is the most advanced and sophisticated of its kind ever developed by China, featuring advanced technologies and multiple capabilities.
Liang Changchun, a designer of the space station arm control system, said the arm can reach 10 meters long when fully extended. It has several motorized joints, which allow it to act like a human arm to the maximum extent possible.
The robot is self-relocatable and can reach many parts of the module through an inchworm-like movement. It is able to handle payloads with a weight of 25 metric tons.
The key point of the mechanical arm focuses on its “elbow”, which hosts the central controller of the robot, Liang said.
"This is the ‘elbow’ part of the mechanical arm. It contains one joint, which is a central controller. This central controller is the ‘brain’ of the mechanical arm. Both the movement of the mechanical arm and the transmission of information rely on this central controller," he said.
In addition to having a flexible arm, the mechanical arm also has a keen “antennal nerve”. It is equipped with two end-effectors on its "shoulder" and "wrist", which enable it to grab orbital cabins or goods.
"When the mechanical arm crawls on the cabin, the end-effectors work to capture the target receiver on the cabin wall to realize a fixed connection. There's also a wrist camera on its end, and through the camera's monitoring, it's able to take real time images of what's going on outside the module, on the surface of the space station, or astronauts' operations," said Liang.
Researchers had also taken into full consideration of the operating environment of the mechanical arm to ensure its safety.
"We take into account the gravity and the temperature in the environment. Some other considerations include cosmic rays, the impacts of single particles, or even the selection of our controllers," said Liang.
The arm is critical to the construction and operation of the Chinese space station, called Tiangong, or Heavenly Palace, as it will be used to connect two space labs - scheduled to be launched next year - with the Tianhe module to form the entire station, carry packages from cargo spaceships, capture visiting spacecraft and assist astronauts in their spacewalks, said Liang.
It will also execute a wide range of other tasks such as examining Tiangong's external condition and monitoring the environment outside the spacecraft.
ID : 8208521
Published : 2021-07-04 15:46
Last Modified : 2021-07-05 17:00:00
Source : China Central Television (CCTV)
Restrictions : No access Chinese mainland
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