The Active Response Gravity Offload System
重力免荷能動制御システム
OVERVIEW
The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, is developing the Active Response Gravity Offload System (ARGOS) to simulate reduced gravity environments, such as Lunar, Martian, and microgravity, using a large scale, full motion robotic system
ARGOS supplies continuous offload of a portion of a person’s (or dynamic object’s) weight during dynamic motions such as walking, running, and jumping
ARGOS follows the person’s (or object’s) motion in the horizontal and vertical directions to maintain a vertical offload force
Rotational motion is accommodated by the ARGOS/payload interface mechanism
A fully realized ARGOS facility will be capable of supporting surface operation studies, suit and vehicle requirements development, suit and vehicle design evaluation, and training with both suited and shirt-sleeved participants
Such a facility will be capable of offloading the weight of rovers and robots for testing in simulated reduced gravity environments
ARGOS technology is intended to support testing, development, and training for future missions to Near Earth Asteroids, Micro-gravity environments, the Moon, Mars, or any other destination
The project philosophy has been to design, fabricate, test, and then improve
The knowledge gained from this iterative approach has matured the project designs and requirements
The current steel structure was built to accommodate movement in all three directions of motion (one vertical and two horizontal).
