Our team has developed a simple and feasible approach to assemble components in space to implement space missions and support the maintenance of existing space architecture. To accomplish this marvelous feat, a singular element or vehicle equipped with three AI powered robotic arms and multi-operational functionality for assisting in the docking or assembling of components was created. The two robotic arms for docking are identical and are a modified versions of CANADARM3 that is designed by the Canadian Space Agency for Artemis missions. The third arm utilises the same technology as Dextre used on the ISS. It obtains power from two solar panels and is propelled by an Ion Propulsion Engine utilizing technology developed by NASA in NEXT-C commercial engine for longer duration of operation at a lower cost. Also, it has 16 side thrusters to aid in proximity operations.

The significance of this innovative vehicle is that it can support the maintenance of existing missions to orchestrating the construction of new missions, such as telescopes, satellites, or observatories to continue progressing humanity's knowledge of space sciences and exploration. The capabilities of our robotic vehicle remove the constraint of fitting an entire structure in a single, specific launch to better suit the science goals of the mission while not being handicapped by the mass and volume constraints of a launch. Presence of vehicles such as this in space would make it easy for structures to be assembled quickly and cost effectively, therefore minimizing the budget of space exploration. The vehicle will be able to change orbits hence avoiding the cost of moving a completed structure to its designated orbit. Instead assembly can completed at the designated orbit of the structure. For deep space structures, assembly will be done at the parking orbit of our vehicle which we have choosen to be stable and free of debris.

Our vehicle assists the docking process of other space vehicles in space missions such as refueling, cargo delivery as well as expeditions. It also performs in orbit assembly of structures such as big telescopes, space stations and space hotels of the future.

The vehicle is put into a parking orbit at the Low Earth Orbit with an apogee of 850km and perigee of 500km. We chose LEO because it easy to achieve and at this elliptical orbit (apogee-850km and perigee-500km), our vehicle will be stable and safe from space debris. This will be the site for assembly of deep space exploration structures but for structures below 850km, our vehicle will have to change orbit to the intended orbit. The vehicle's robotic arms are AI powered with features such as collision avoidance and 3D vision for mapping of structures. This enables the vehicle to perform autonomously or under guidance from Earth. The robotic vehicle has to arrive at the site of assembly prior to arrival of the parts therefore uses the ion propulsion engine to change orbits. It then uses its side thrusters to perform proximity operations and capture the vehicles to be docked by using the robotic arms for docking. These 2 arms have 8 degrees of freedom (just like Canadarm2 with an extra sliding curve motion at the sickle-shaped handle) in order to perform all the pitch, yaw and roll orientations of the two independent docking vehicles. The third arm has 15 degrees of freedom for improved dexterity in assembly functions. After a successful mission, our vehicles detaches to release the docked/assembled parts and move to another mission or back to its parking orbit.

We hope the success of this robotic vehicle’s operation will expand the capabilities of deep space exploration, scientific experiments, and astronomical studies.