Program Overview

Program Overview

The university program focuses on the development of a novel bi-stable grasper for space debris capture. This project aims to investigate a resettable capture mechanism using deployed bi-stable tape springs.

Program Description

Net and harpoon systems are proposed solutions for space debris capture. However, both are one-shot and do not allow for resetting of the system in the event of a failed capture. This project seeks to address this limitation by developing a resettable capture mechanism. When impacting upon a target, the springs should undergo a rapid transition to wrap around the target object.

Research Objectives

• Literature review of existing debris capture technologies
• Identification of key mechanism constraints and parameters
• Analysis of impact dynamics
• Proof of concept demonstrator and test

Specialisations

The program is tailored for students specialising in Mechanical Engineering.

Project Outcomes

The project aims to achieve the following outcomes:

• Determine the feasibility and scaling of a system for a range of target debris objects
• Build and demonstrate a small-scale proof of concept resettable mechanism