Built On-Orbit Robotically Assembled Gigatruss (BORG): Ground Robotic Demonstration

The next generation of large space infrastructure will require crucial advancements in current technology. Current methodologies focus on large deployable structures folded into cramped payload fairings or revolutionary assembly techniques requiring many moving components. Utilizing both in-space assembly and deployable concepts, a hybrid mixed assembly scheme was posed using smaller deployable units interspersed with rigid connecting elements to assemble these large architectures. The Built On-Orbit Robotically Assembled Gigatruss (BORG) structure allows for modularity in assembly and repair with the number of separate elements comprising the structure to be reduced, compared to strut-by-strut assembly. The following documents the process of constructing and running physical trials on a prototype BORG architecture. Additionally, a Semantic and Fiducial Aided Graph Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SF-GraphSLAM) approach is taken to verify the relation of assembled and deployed truss elements to aid in error evaluation and state estimation. This technology demonstration stands as a proof of concept in verifying the viability of the BORG architecture as a method for large structure assembly.