Universal match plate for docking, anchoring, and towing.

Abstract

Embodiments presented herein provide a universal docking interface system between spacecraft. One mechanical interface system includes a first docking plate attached to a first spacecraft and a second docking plate attached to a second spacecraft. The first docking plate comprises an array of EPMs, a locking mechanism, ports, guide pins, and a controller. The second docking plate comprises corresponding ports and a receiving port for receiving guide pins. The controller is operable to prepare one or more of the EPMs in long-range mode to initiate mating with the second docking plate by aligning the guide pins with the receiving port, change the magnetization of the EPMs to short-range mode to fix the first docking plate to the second docking plate, and activate the locking mechanism to lock the first docking plate to the second docking plate.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] (CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS) This patent application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 581,879, filed on September 11, 2023, and thus the benefit of the earlier filing date therefrom, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND ART

[0002] As spaceflight continues to evolve, considerable interest has been directed toward the development of technologies for servicing spacecraft such as satellites in orbit. For example, some satellites carry fuel to drive thrusters to change their orbits. Once a satellite consumes all of its fuel, the satellite has no means to alter its orbital position. Accordingly, having a means to transfer fuel to a satellite in outer space may extend the service life of the satellite. Other examples include satellite failures caused by software bugs and glitches, as well as hardware malfunctions. Having some form of data connection in outer space makes it possible to reprogram the satellite from another spacecraft to overcome such failures. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0003] Multiple embodiments of this specification provide docking systems including a universal androgynous interface capable of meeting the requirements for docking one spacecraft with another in space. The system also provides the ability to rapidly prepare the spacecraft on the ground before launch. In one embodiment, the mechanical interface system includes a first docking plate provided on a first spacecraft. A second docking plate is provided on the second spacecraft and is operable to interact with the first docking plate. The first docking plate comprises an array of electric permanent magnets (EPMs), a locking mechanism, multiple ports, guide pins, and a controller. The second docking plate comprises a corresponding number of ports and a receiving port for receiving guide pins. The controller is operable to adjust one or more of the EPMs to long-range mode by aligning the guide pins with the receiving port to initiate mating with the second docking plate. Once aligned, the controller changes the magnetization of the EPMs to short-range mode to secure the first docking plate to the second docking plate. Subsequently, the controller activates the locking mechanism to lock the first docking plate to the second docking plate.

[0004] Once locked, the docking plates can use various connections to transport what the spacecraft needs and / or tow the spacecraft (e.g., for repositioning and / or deorbiting). Examples of ports on each docking plate include electrical connections for transferring power from one spacecraft to another, fluid transfer connections for transferring fluids between spacecraft, and / or data connections for transmitting communications between spacecraft (e.g., software uploads, data transfers). The controller can further operate to undocking the spacecraft by releasing the locking mechanism and controlling the EPM to magnetically repel the first docking plate from the second docking plate.

[0005] In some embodiments, the docking plate includes an optical reference point that is operable to locate a corresponding optical reference point provided on a second docking plate. For example, one of the docking plates may be equipped with a light, and the other docking plate may be equipped with a photodetector. The photodetector may be used as a form of feedback to the controller so that the controller can adjust the EPM to guide the docking plate to the other docking plate so that the guide pins and acceptance port are aligned.

[0006] The various embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in various ways as a matter of design choice. For example, some embodiments herein are implemented in hardware, while several other embodiments may include processes that can operate to implement and / or operate the hardware. Other exemplary embodiments, including software and firmware, are described below. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0007] Herein, some embodiments of the present invention will be described, for illustrative purposes only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals represent the same elements or elements of the same type in all drawings.

[0008] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is a block diagram of a system for docking two spacecraft in one exemplary embodiment. [Figure 2] Figure 2 is a flowchart of an exemplary process for the system shown in Figure 1. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is a perspective view of the interface side of the docking plate in one exemplary embodiment. [Figure 4] Figure 4 illustrates a pair of docking plates being prepared for mating in one exemplary embodiment. [Figure 5] Figure 5 is a perspective cutaway of a docking plate initiating mating in one exemplary embodiment. [Figure 6] Figure 6A is a perspective cutaway of two docking plates engaged in soft docking mode, and Figure 6B is an exploded view of the connection and contact surfaces of the docking plates in one exemplary embodiment. [Figure 7] Figure 7 is a perspective cutaway of two docking plates that are fitted and engage with a hard dock via a locking mechanism in one exemplary embodiment. [Figure 8] Figures 8A–8C are perspective views of two mating docking plates in one exemplary embodiment. [Figure 9] Figure 9 shows the cam system of the docking plate used to fit the docking plate. [Figure 10] Figure 10 is a perspective cutaway view of two docking plates that are fully locked together with their respective connection points connected to each other. [Figure 11] Figure 11 is a block diagram of an exemplary computing system in which a computer-readable medium provides instructions for carrying out the method described herein. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] The figures and the following description illustrate specific exemplary embodiments. Those skilled in the art will therefore understand that various arrangements embodying specific principles and falling within the scope of the embodiments, although not expressly described or shown herein, may be devised. Furthermore, any embodiments described herein are intended to aid in the understanding of the embodiments and should be construed as not being limited to such specifically enumerated embodiments and conditions. Consequently, the embodiments are not limited to any of the embodiments described below.

[0010] Figure 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary system 100 for docking two spacecraft in one exemplary embodiment. In this embodiment, the system includes a first docking plate 102 and a second docking plate 122. Each of the docking plates 102 and 122 is configured to be attached to the respective spacecraft. As an alternative or additional configuration, one of the docking plates 102 and 122 may be configured to include a ground service platform for servicing the spacecraft on the ground before launch. Thus, as used herein, the term “spacecraft” may also refer to the ground service platform.

[0011] In this embodiment, the first docking plate 102 is communicably connected to a controller 116 that is operable to control various aspects of the docking plate 102, including mating the docking plate 102 with the docking plate 122 via an array of electropermanent magnets (EPMs) 110. EPMs are a type of permanent magnet that can switch an external magnetic field on or off by current pulses in a wire winding around a portion of the magnet. A magnet generally consists of two sections: one made of "hard" magnetic material (i.e., high coercivity) and one made of "soft" magnetic material (i.e., low coercivity). The direction of magnetization in the latter part can be switched by current pulses in a wire winding around the former. When magnetically soft and hard materials have opposing magnetizations, the magnet does not generate a net external magnetic field across its poles. Also, when the directions of their magnetizations are aligned, the magnet generates an external magnetic field.

[0012] The docking plate 102 may have one or more guide pins 106 that are operable to mate with the docking plate 122. The controller 116 adjusts the EPM of the EPM array 110 in a long-range mode to pull the docking plate 102 towards the docking plate 122. When the guide pins 106 engage with the acceptance ports of the docking plate 122, the controller 116 may turn on all of the EPMs of the array 110 to secure the docking plate 102 to the docking plate 122. In this regard, the guide pins 106 may align a plurality of ports 104-1 to 104-N of the docking plate 102 (where reference number "N" is an integer greater than "1" and is not necessarily equal to any other "N" reference specified herein) with a corresponding plurality of ports 104 of the docking plate 122. These ports 104 may include fluid transfer connections, electrical connections, and / or data connections that can be used for spacecraft maintenance. Therefore, the terms “connection” and “port” are used synonymously in this specification.

[0013] The configuration of Port 104 may vary from mission to mission, but still allow the use of the same universal interface for launch lock and docking in space. For example, the electrical connection may be replaced with a fluid transfer connection before launch (e.g., in space within a manned support spacecraft) depending on the needs of the spacecraft being serviced.

[0014] Once the respective ports 104 of docking plates 102 and 122 are aligned and the EPM array 110 locks docking plate 102 to docking plate 122, the controller 116 may initiate the locking mechanism 108 to lock docking plate 102 to docking plate 122. In some embodiments, the locking mechanism 108 is a cam mechanism that rotates the inner portion of docking plate 102 onto the guide pins of docking plate 122. Once locked, the connection is aligned and can be used for spacecraft maintenance and / or towing. Further examples of the locking mechanism 108 are shown and described in the following figures.

[0015] In some embodiments, docking plates 102 and 122 may include optical reference points to provide feedback to the controller 116 in order to assist in guiding docking plate 102 to docking plate 122. For example, docking plate 122 may include a light source, and docking plate 102 may include an optical detector. The optical detector may sense light from docking plate 122 when the light indicates that docking plate 102 is in close proximity to docking plate 122, and generate a control signal for the controller 116.

[0016] Figure 2 is a flowchart of an exemplary process 200 of system 100 in Figure 1. In this embodiment, the controller 116 initiates docking between docking plate 102 and docking plate 122 by controlling multiple EPMs in the EPM array 110 in process element 202 to pull docking plate 102 towards docking plate 122. In this “long-distance mode”, the controller 116 may tune the EPM array 110 by individually controlling the EPMs in the EPM array 110 to orient docking plate 102 toward docking plate 122 and align guide pins 106 with the acceptance ports of docking plate 122 within process element 204. As described above, docking plates 102 and 122 may be configured with optical reference points that provide feedback to the controller 116 so that the controller 116 can determine which EPMs in the EPM array 110 to turn on and off as some kind of steering mechanism.

[0017] Once the docking plate 102 is mated with the docking plate 122 and the port 104 of the docking plate 102 is aligned with the port of the docking plate 122, the controller 116 may change the magnetization state of the EPMs in the EPM array 110 to "short-range mode" in the process element 206 in order to fix the docking plate 102 to the docking plate 122. For example, the controller 116 may turn on all the EPMs in the EPM array 110 and instruct them to fix the docking plate 102 to the docking plate 122. The controller 116 may then instruct the electromechanical locking mechanism in the process element 208 to lock the docking plate 102 to the docking plate 122.

[0018] After the spacecraft has been serviced at port 104 of docking plate 102 (e.g., power transfer, fluid transfer, data transfer, towing, etc.), controller 116 may instruct the electromechanical locking mechanism to release from docking plate 122. The controller 116 may then instruct the EPM of EPM array 110 to repel docking plate 102 from docking plate 122 (e.g., by reversing the polarity).

[0019] Figure 3 is a perspective view of the interface side of a docking plate 300 in one exemplary embodiment. In this embodiment, the docking plate 300 includes fluid transfer interfaces 302-1 and 302-2, a guide pin 306, an acceptance port 312, an EPM array 310, power and / or data connections 304-1 and 304-2, and optical reference points 308-1 to 308-3. The guide pin 306 is configured to guide the docking plate 300 to a corresponding acceptance port on another docking plate. The acceptance port 312 of the docking plate 300 is also configured to accept a corresponding guide pin from the other docking plate. Thus, the docking plate 300 may be part of a universal docking plate system configured to mate with other similarly configured docking plates.

[0020] Figure 4 illustrates a pair of docking plates 402 and 422 prepared for engagement in one exemplary embodiment. In this embodiment, each of the docking plates 402 and 422 is similarly configured in that each is provided with an EPM array (for example, the EPM array 430 of the docking plate 422; the EPM array of the docking plate 402 is not visible in this figure). The EPM array is adjusted by a controller (not shown) in a long-range mode based on optical reference points that provide feedback to the controller (for example, optical reference points 432-1 to 432-3 of the docking plate 422). The feedback from the optical reference points enables the controller to adjust (e.g., turn on and off) the individual EPMs of the respective docking plates and guide the docking plates 402 and 422 together, so that the docking plates can be oriented toward each other.

[0021] When the docking plates engage, the guide pins 436 of the docking plate 422 are received in the receiving ports of the docking plate 402. Similarly, the docking plate 402 has guide pins that are received in the receiving ports 438 of the docking plate 422. When engaged, the EPM arrays of docking plates 402 and 422 enter a short-range mode. That is, the controller of one of the docking plates 402 and 422 may turn on each of the EPMs in its EPM array, while the controller of the other docking plate may turn off each of the EPMs in its EPM array such that magnetic attraction is generated between the opposing EPM arrays. This short-range mode of EPM array control secures the docking plates to each other. As an alternative configuration, the EPM arrays of docking plates 402 and 422 may be configured in an opposite manner such that when the EPM arrays of docking plates 402 and 422 are turned on, the first docking plate has a north pole facing the other docking plate, and the other docking plate has a south pole facing the first docking plate. Once secured, either or both of docking plates 402 and 422 may instruct the electromechanical locking mechanism to lock docking plates 402 and 422 to each other via the controller. The EPM array, controller, and / or electromechanical locking system may be powered by the power source 410 in each docking plate. In some embodiments, the EPMs may have alternating polarities within the array. In either case, the EPMs of the EPM array may be individually controlled by the respective controller.

[0022] Once maintenance of the spacecraft is completed from one docking plate (e.g., docking plate 422) through the other docking plate (e.g., docking plate 402), one or more controllers may activate an electromechanical locking mechanism to disengage docking plates 402 and 422 and unlock them from one another. Subsequently, either or both controllers may reverse the EPM current of their respective EPM arrays to create a repulsive force between docking plates 402 and 422 and separate the docking plates from one another.

[0023] It should be noted that the embodiments described herein are not intended to be limited to the same docking plate. For example, in some examples, one of the docking plates may consist of an EPM array, while the other mating docking plate may not have an EPM array, controller, or locking mechanism. Those skilled in the art will readily recognize that one of the docking plates may be implemented using an EPM to align with and be fixed to another docking plate to provide various types of connections, including fluid, data, and / or power.

[0024] Figure 5 is a perspective cutaway of docking plates 402 and 422 initiating mating in one exemplary embodiment. Here, each docking plate has an alignment pin 506 and an alignment receptacle 530. When docking plates 402 and 422 are close to each other, their respective EPM arrays enter a short-range mode to pull docking plates 402 and 422 together, such that the alignment pin 506 of docking plate 402 slides into the alignment receptacle 530 of docking plate 422. The alignment pin 506 of docking plate 422 also slides into the alignment receptacle 530 of docking plate 402. The short-range attraction mode of the EPM array has a higher holding force than the long-range mode and provides a soft dock between docking plates 402 and 422. In this specification, the terms “guide pin” and “alignment pin” may be used interchangeably, as may the terms “alignment receptacle” and “receiving port.”

[0025] Figure 6A is a perspective cutaway of two docking plates engaged in soft docking mode. Figure 6B is an exploded assembly 640 of the docking plate connections 646 and 648 (e.g., electrical connections, fluid connections, data connections, etc.) and contact surfaces 642 and 644 in one exemplary embodiment. When the EPM is fully engaged in soft docking mode, the contact surfaces 642 and 644 connect to act as a mechanical damping mechanism to prevent damage to the electrical and fluid connections. As can be seen in the image, the connections are located behind the contact surfaces, providing further protection to the connections.

[0026] Figure 7 is a perspective cutaway of two docking plates that mate into and engage with a hard dock via a locking mechanism in one exemplary embodiment. Each docking plate is provided with a symmetrical torque pin 706 that can rotate to initiate the hard dock. A motor controls the rotation of the torque pins 706 to slide each of the torque pins 706 to the opposite side of the interface, ensuring that the retraction process is symmetrical. Both alignment pins incorporate roller pins, each having a bearing that allows rotation.

[0027] Figure 8A is a perspective view in one exemplary embodiment showing two mated docking plates and their respective wheels rotating in opposite directions, as indicated by arrows 824 and 826. As the torque pin rotates, the roller pin follows the inclined cam profiles 820 and 822, thereby pulling the connection and mechanically locking the system. Cam followers 828, 830, 832, and 834 pull the two docking plates together as the cam profiles 820 and 822 rotate through the cam followers. Figure 8B further shows the docking plates being pulled together as the cam profiles 820 and 822 rotate through the cam followers 828, 830, 832, and 834. Figure 8C illustrates the two docking plates mated and locked together. When both torque pins are fully torqued, the interface enters a fully hard-docked state. The connections of the two docking plates are also connected. Therefore, the system is mechanically locked completely via roller pins and cam profiles 828, 830, 832, and 834. An example of a fully locked cam profile 826 between cam followers 828 and 830 is shown in Figure 9. Figure 10 is a perspective cutaway of two docking plates fully locked with each connection of the docking plates connected to each other. To undocking the two docking plates, the same process may be performed in reverse, followed by reversing the magnetic poles of one of the two EPM arrays to generate a magnetic repulsion force.

[0028] Those skilled in the art will readily recognize that other types of locking and alignment mechanisms may be employed for hard-docking the individual plates of a spacecraft. Those skilled in the art will also recognize that EPM may be controlled and configured as a matter of design choice.

[0029] Any of the embodiments described herein may be reconfigured and / or combined with other embodiments. Therefore, the concepts herein should not be limited to any particular embodiment disclosed herein. Furthermore, embodiments may take the form of entirely hardware, or may include both hardware and software elements. Some embodiments may be implemented in software, including but not limited to firmware, resident software, and microcode. Figure 11 shows a computing system 1000 in which a computer-readable medium 1006 may provide instructions for carrying out any of the methods disclosed herein.

[0030] Any of the various computing and / or control elements shown in the diagram or described herein may be implemented as hardware, as a processor implementing software or firmware, or as a combination of these. For example, an element may be implemented as dedicated hardware. A dedicated hardware element may be referred to as a “processor,” “controller,” or similar terms. Where provided by a processor, the functionality may be provided by a single dedicated processor, a single shared processor, or by multiple individual processors, some of which may be shared. Furthermore, the explicit use of the terms “processor” or “controller” should not be interpreted as referring only to hardware capable of running software, but implicitly, without limitation, may include digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, network processors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or other circuits, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), non-volatile storage, logic, or other physical hardware components or modules for storing software.

[0031] In one embodiment, instructions stored on a computer-readable medium instruct a computing system of any of the devices and / or servers discussed herein to perform various operations disclosed herein. In some embodiments, all or some of these operations may be implemented in a network computing environment such as a cloud computing system. Cloud computing often involves the on-demand availability of computer system resources, such as data storage (cloud storage) and computing power, without direct active management by the user. Cloud computing relies on resource sharing and generally includes on-demand self-service, extensive network access, resource pools, rapid scalability, and measured services.

[0032] Figure 11 shows one exemplary cloud computing system 1200 capable of performing the above operations by executing programmed instructions tangibly embodied on one or more computer-readable storage media. The cloud computing system 1200 generally involves the use of a network of remote servers hosted on the Internet to store, manage, and process data, rather than on local servers or personal computers (e.g., within computing systems 1202-1 to 1202-N). Cloud computing enables users to use infrastructure and applications over the Internet without having to install and maintain them on-premises. In this regard, the cloud computing network 1220 may include virtualized information technology (IT) infrastructure (e.g., servers 1224-1 to 1224-N, data storage modules 1222, operating system software, networking, and other infrastructure), which are abstracted to allow the infrastructure to be pooled and / or partitioned regardless of physical hardware boundaries. In some embodiments, the cloud computing network 1220 may provide users with a service in the form of components that can be used to create and deploy various types of applications in the cloud on a metric basis.

[0033] Various components of the cloud computing system 1200 may be capable of operating to implement the entire operation described above, or to contribute to the operation in part. For example, computing system 1202-1 may be used to store computer instructions in the data storage module 1222 (e.g., a database) of the cloud computing network 1220. These instructions may be transmitted to the controller of the docking plate. Various computer servers 1224-1 to 1224-N of the cloud computing network 1220 may be used to operate on the data and / or transfer the data to another computing system 1202-N.

[0034] Some embodiments disclosed herein may implement all or some of the various operations disclosed above by utilizing instructions (e.g., code / software) accessible via a computer-readable storage medium for use by various components within the cloud computing system 1200. Examples of such components include computing systems 1202-1 to 1202-N.

[0035] Exemplary components of computing systems 1202-1 to 1202-N may include at least one processor 1204, a computer-readable storage medium 1214, program and data memory 1206, an input / output (I / O) device 1208, a display device interface 1212, and a network interface 1210. For the purposes of this specification, the computer-readable storage medium 1214 includes any physical medium capable of storing programs for use by computing system 1202. For example, the computer-readable storage medium 1214 may be electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, semiconductor devices, or other non-transient media. Examples of computer-readable storage medium 1214 include solid-state memory, magnetic tape, removable computer diskettes, random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), rigid magnetic disks, and optical disks. Examples of optical disks include compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), compact disc read / write (CD-R / W), digital versatile discs (DVD), and Blu-ray discs.

[0036] The processor 1204 is connected to the program and data memory 1206 via the system bus 1216. The program and data memory 1206 includes local memory, bulk storage, and / or cache memory used during the actual execution of program code, the cache memory providing temporary storage for at least some program code and / or data to reduce the number of times the code and / or data are retrieved from bulk storage (e.g., hard disk drives, solid-state drives, etc.) during execution.

[0037] Input / output or I / O devices 1208 (including, but not limited to, keyboards, displays, touchscreens, microphones, and pointing devices) may be connected directly or via an intermediary I / O controller. The network adapter interface 1210 may also be integrated with the system to allow the computing system 1202 to connect to other computing systems or storage devices through an intermediary private or public network. The network adapter interface 1210 may be implemented as a modem, cable modem, small computer system interface (SCSI) device, Fibre Channel device, Ethernet card, wireless adapter, etc. The display device interface 1212 may be integrated with the system to interface with one or more display devices, such as screens, for presenting data generated by the processor 1204.

Claims

1. A mechanical interface system, The first docking plate installed on the first spacecraft, Including a second docking plate installed on the second spacecraft, The first docking plate comprises an array of electro-permanent magnets (EPMs), a locking mechanism, multiple ports, guide pins, and a controller. The second docking plate comprises a plurality of corresponding ports and a receiving port for receiving the guide pins, A mechanical interface system in which the controller is operable to adjust one or more of the EPMs to long-range mode to initiate mating with the second docking plate by aligning the guide pins with the receiving ports, change the magnetization of the EPMs to short-range mode to fix the first docking plate to the second docking plate, and activate the locking mechanism to lock the first docking plate to the second docking plate.

2. The mechanical interface system according to claim 1, wherein the ports of the first docking plate and the second docking plate include one or more of the following: electrical connections, fluid transfer connections, and data connections.

3. The mechanical interface system according to claim 1, wherein the first docking plate includes an optical reference point that is operable to locate a corresponding optical reference point provided on the second docking plate.

4. The mechanical interface system according to claim 1, wherein the controller is further operable to undock the spacecraft by engaging and disengaging the locking mechanism and controlling the EPM to magnetically repel the first docking plate from the second docking plate.

5. A method for docking from the first spacecraft to the second spacecraft, Controlling a plurality of electropermanent magnets (EPMs) in an EPM array to guide a first docking plate provided on the first spacecraft to a second docking plate provided on the second spacecraft, wherein the first docking plate comprises an array of electropermanent magnets (EPMs), a locking mechanism, a plurality of ports, guide pins, and a controller, and the second docking plate comprises a corresponding plurality of ports and receiving ports for receiving the guide pins. By aligning the guide pin with the receiving port, one or more of the EPMs are prepared in the long-distance mode, and mating with the second docking plate is initiated. In order to fix the first docking plate to the second docking plate, the magnetization of the EPM is changed to short-range mode, A method comprising: acting the locking mechanism to lock the first docking plate to the second docking plate.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising transferring a fluid from the first spacecraft to the second spacecraft through one of the plurality of ports.

7. The method according to claim 5, further comprising transferring data between the first spacecraft and the second spacecraft through one of the plurality of ports.

8. The method according to claim 5, further comprising transmitting power from the first spacecraft to the second spacecraft through one of the plurality of ports.

9. Processing a feedback signal from the optical reference point of the first docking plate used to locate the corresponding optical reference point of the second docking plate, The method according to claim 5, further comprising guiding the first docking plate to the second docking plate based on the feedback signal.

10. The method according to claim 5, further comprising disdocking the spacecraft by engaging and disengaging the locking mechanism and controlling the EPM to magnetically repel the first docking plate from the second docking plate.

11. A non-temporary computer-readable medium, which, when executed by a controller, includes an instruction that tells the controller to dock from a first spacecraft to a second spacecraft, wherein the instruction is given to the controller, Controlling a plurality of electropermanent magnets (EPMs) in an EPM array to guide a first docking plate attached to the first spacecraft to a second docking plate attached to the second spacecraft, wherein the first docking plate comprises an array of electropermanent magnets (EPMs), a locking mechanism, a plurality of ports, guide pins, and a controller, and the second docking plate comprises a plurality of corresponding ports for receiving the guide pins and acceptance ports. By aligning the guide pin with the receiving port, one or more of the EPMs are prepared in the long-distance mode, and mating with the second docking plate is initiated. In order to fix the first docking plate to the second docking plate, the magnetization of the EPM is changed to short-range mode, A non-temporary computer-readable medium that commands the locking mechanism to be activated to lock the first docking plate to the second docking plate.

12. The aforementioned controller, The computer-readable medium according to claim 11, further comprising issuing a command to transfer a fluid from the first spacecraft to the second spacecraft through one of the plurality of ports.

13. The aforementioned controller, The computer-readable medium according to claim 11, further comprising instructing the transfer of data between the first spacecraft and the second spacecraft through one of the plurality of ports.

14. The aforementioned controller, The computer-readable medium according to claim 11, further comprising issuing a command to transmit power from the first spacecraft to the second spacecraft through one of the plurality of ports.

15. The aforementioned controller, Processing a feedback signal from the optical reference point of the first docking plate used to position the corresponding optical reference point of the second docking plate, The computer-readable medium according to claim 11, further comprising: guiding the first docking plate to the second docking plate based on the feedback signal; and commanding to do so.

16. The aforementioned controller, The computer-readable medium according to claim 11, further comprising commanding the spacecraft to undock by engaging and disengaging the locking mechanism and controlling the EPM to magnetically repel the first docking plate from the second docking plate.

Images