Oh, Canadarm - Why NASA Calls On Canada for Robot Arms IN SPACE
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- Опубликовано: 27 ноя 2022
- Canada developed the remote manipulator system for the Space Shuttle program, this was an essential piece of hardware for many missions even though it wasn't always flown. It would be enhanced over time, and when the International Space Station began development Canada were again called upon to develop and build a new generation of the arm.
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Only Canadians would think of zero-gravity simulation testing using a giant air hockey table 😁
Genius!
fur sure eh?
🤨 Not sure that Canada was the first to do this, and they certainly aren't the only people capable of coming up with the idea!
It actually works in the opposite way to an air hockey table. The large, flat, level surface doesn't have any holes in it. The things that resemble air hockey pucks are known as air bearings, and have holes in the bottom through which the air is pumped.
Air bearings were first described in 1812 by Robert Willis, an Englishman. The concept has been adapted to a variety of uses by people from all over the world. To an engineer they're a go-to tool for various projects. You don't have to be Canadian to think of using them.
It's all they could afford!
Because hockey. 😁
You really nailed the Canadian episode by starting out the video with an apology.
And we're not sorry for accepting it. Sorry.
Freakin Eh!
Probably one of the best examples of branding in history, too. It puts the Canada logo in so many images from the shuttle missions, often front and center.
I recently had my own robot arm (JACO Robotic Arm) installed on my wheelchair. Took 2 years waiting for my insurance to accept it, but it's amazing. Allowing me to do things I haven't done in at least 15 years.
Nice. 👍
The mind boggles!
That must feel liberating.
♥♥
That is awesome!
While astronaut Marc Garneau was president of CSA, was able to visit the labs that the public never got to see. I was shown a section of the Canadarm that was maybe 5 meters by 30cm without any attachments or coverings. I could easily lift one end of the boom with just two fingers. It was incredibly light and stiff. Other items I saw were secret and truly defy explanation.
We've never been sorry. Stop sharing secrets!
I had robotic surgery to repair my mitral heart valve. I was told at the time by people involved in the procedure that the DaVinci robot used was a direct outgrowth of the space shuttle arm technology.
I heard they did surgery on a grape
This is essentially true; the research done to develop the low-voltage motor control system for Canadarm was studied and miniaturized for prototyping the DaVinci surgical robosthesis.
You more than us nerds who know about the origins of velcro and the ballpoint pen, should never let anyone say that space exploration and industry is a waste of money.
"Constraints breed creativity." -Chris Brady
And creativity is the pulse of innovation.
said " I had robotic surgery to repair my mitral heart valve. "
So you have rocket surgery?
@@HuntingTarg those things would of been developed regardless of space "exploration", including surgery robots
@@MrPaxio But the space exploration directly paid for their development. The use of tax dollars (in the form of research grants and contracts) to directly research these things is what drives the rapid development pace. private companies before maybe 2000 werent gooing to dump ludicrous amounts of money into R&D like we saw with our space programs.
My boss and his grandfather did metal work here in Ontario Canada for the first Canadarm. He’s got all the papers and a photos to prove it and he’s so humble about it, it’s nbd to him. And I’m like “You’re nuts dude, I tell all my friends about it”. 😂
My grandpa did as well, at Stelco. He said it was a miserable and dangerous place to work but enjoyed working on that project.
“Oh yeah, I worked on a vital component of the space shuttle, no big deal.”
I can only describe that as badass.
@@homemadecringeycontent6363 That’s what I tell him frequently but apparently he’s just Mr. Joe F’n cool. 😂
The father of one my friends also worked on some metal parts for the Canadarm. He will tell you!
@@TheGeeoff 😂
At the Falcon Heavy demo launch, I had the chance to hang out with an astronaut for an hour or so. We spoke at length, from an engineering perspective, about the Canadarm. One thing he made me realize was that the arm is prone to oscillations, that can't be dampened in space. Because of the 0-G, if an oscillation happens, it will bounce up and down the arm continuously until it completely destroys itself. This is why very slow movements is done, and the Canadarm contains specific gyroscopes to help it control such oscillations. Space Engineering just blows my mind, everything they have to think of that we take for granted on earth. When we design something, we assume a pull of gravity will help dampen oscillations. Not in space. What a GREAT, bleeding-edge contribution to the space program. Canadian Engineers Rock (ERTW).
Gravity on its own doesn't damp oscillations. Think of a pendulum, for example, or an eccentric orbit. Air does, though.
@@IDoNotLikeHandlesOnYT It does not, but remember the canadarm is a shelf, and with a shelf the weight of the shelf dampens the oscillation against the fixed point. I'm sure you remember the Partial Differential Equation class with the spring on a spring on a shelf! Ugh i still have nightmares of it.
So turns out the robotic arm instability in KSP is actually a feature... I'd just wish there was an Inverse Kinematics controller.
Chris hadfield (in my opinion) has done more for getting kids into space and STEAM then any other Astronaut in history. One of the many reasons he’s one of my favorite astronauts.
Canada takes great pride in that damn arm 😂 you’ll never hear the end of it
Surprised no one has mentioned the fact that it's even on our $5 bills yet!
@@awesomepwn12 As soon as I saw my first new $5 I was like Fuck Yea!
@@awesomepwn12 seriously??? 😂
@@sc1338 serious! And not even as a limited edition thing or anything
What have you done?
Nothing more Canadian then having to say "Sorry" to mic issues. :D Other-wise great little take on the long running Canada Arm.
_Canadarm_ has three syllables.
@@UncleKennysPlace always thought it had two like gendarme.
Stupid comment.
@@Rich-on6fe Cah-Nah-Dahrm is the official pronunciation (in pseudo-phonetics). It has an extra 'a' in it between can and darm, so it doesn't quite work like gendarme
Yeah. It's a good thing we enacted the Apology Act 2009 to protect him
Why does it feel like Scott had this one held in reserve for just such an occasion
We've only been bugging him about the Canadarm for years, especially when he'd just call it the manipulator.
Canadarm, does everything 'cept scratch your beaver.
There is a piece of the story you might want to look up. I am going off of memory here, but in the pre-Internet days when I was in elementary school, I wrote a science report about the canadarm. (I.e. better fact check this before talking about it). What stands out for me was that the Canada wordmark clearly seen on the arm was a last minute addition, and extra testing had to be done to make sure adding the logo wouldn't impact performance. During that first flight when they tested it, video downlink was spotty for the reasons you mentioned. When the TV feed cut on after deploying the arm, the logo was plainly visible: a big fist bump for us Canucks. The thing is that prior to that flight, there was no American flag on the side of the shuttle... Sufficed to say, the shuttle program added the external logo.
Honestly, anything that flys should have pinup art.
Not quite right. The external flags were there from day one. However, the US flag stitched to the aft payload bay bulkhead's thermal blanket *was* added in response to the Canada wordmark showing up.
Another trivia note: Apparently, on STS-2, one of the astronauts took a little sticker of the Canada wordmark and applied it to the RMS control panel during the flight, very neatly, looking as if it was intended to be there from the start. Thing is, since that sticker was not on the official drawings of the panel, it was dutifully scraped off during the Shuttle's turnaround for the next flight. However, apparently, the astronauts disagreed with this, because every time the Canadarm flew, the Shuttle came back with an identical wordmark sticker applied in exactly the same place on the panel. Every time, it was scraped off during turnaround... but come the end of the program, apparently, NASA saw no need to "correct" that one last time, because in photographs that were taken of Endeavour's flight deck after her arrival at the museum inn Los Angeles, you can see that the Canada wordmark sticker remains in place on the RMS control panel.
@@rdfox76 that actually makes more sense than what I remember and understood as a ~10 year old. Unless they put a camera on the end of the canadarm, you wouldn't really see the external tail flag on the TV feed for most missions... A flag on the inside of the bay on the other hand would show up, and would help downplay the prominence of the canadarm markings.
@@cgapeart Still sounds like a pretty good paper for a 10 year old.
🙂
@@thatotherguy7596 "He had a report due on Space!" (I'm thinking of that encyclopedia Britannica commercial)
Years ago, Wired magazine had an article on the team that wrote “perfect code” for the shuttle. To point out how good it was, they mentioned that they found a bug in the code that operates the Canadarm when mounted on the right side. The only thing is, it was never mounted on that side. They were so thorough they would debug code that was in the spec but never used. The story was more interesting that that, but I thought it was an interesting Canadarm anecdote.
That sort of anal-retentiveness saves lives and payloads.
When something really cool is attached to the side of your 100 billion dollar toy you make god damn sure you know how to play with it without breaking it lol It's an amazing feat of engineering on both ends and I'm super proud to see a maple leaf in that shade of red up there doing everything we ask of it and more
That is a great article, worth looking up. I read it back around 2007 I think. The STS flight software is known as the closest thing to perfect code that's ever been written. Whatever else was wrong with Shuttle, the software was on point.
In fairness, the original spec was to be able to mount a Canadarm on *both* sides of the Shuttle simultaneously, and operate them independently (though one move one at a time); the RMS control panel included switches to allow the controller to operate either the left or right arm, and there were also separate latch controls for the left and right arms, plus the Shuttle was built with mounts and other RMS support hardware on both sides. This actually proved to be a boon post-Columbia, as the OBSS was not only built from spare Canadarm parts, but also was carried in the position reserved for the right-hand RMS.
Canadians are so kind. Always willing to lend a hand
I regret I only have one thumb up to give...
@@professor-josh Here, You can have mine in return 😊
You should make a video about the external cameras on ships used by NASA and SpaceX. Awesome tech.
The camera on colombias rudder fascinates me! 😄👍
So Gopros?
Yeah the "Dragoneye" system that was first tested on a Space Shuttle, then implemented onto dragon, with some tech from that even making it onto Tesla cars to assist in autopilot!
I would be all for that video, would pair nicely with Scott’s video on astronaut cameras ruclips.net/video/ph_apgmpYY0/видео.html
Won't covering the cameras hinder their ability to shoot video?
That shot at 7:06 is truly breathtaking. The shuttle system seems almost pedestrian and knowing the history of the compromises in the system is kind of painful in retrospect, but seeing that view really does feel awe inspiring. I feel like i can appreciate the engineering of the time that was groundbreaking and the good ideas behind the shuttle design.
There is a lot to be appreciated about the Space Shuttle. The more you learn about it the more you realize just how amazing it was, especially considering the technology that they had to work with. We now struggle figuring out how to boost Hubble's orbit, Hubble repairs are currently out of the question. But for the Shuttle that was routine. And that's just one example, if you go to Wikipedia and look at random Shuttle missions, each one was different and filled with varied accomplishments.
It cost a lot of money, not really due to waste but because of all the demands put on it. It met nearly all of the demands, except for the cost and number of flights per year. It was complicated and more effort than most can imagine went into making it safe each flight, but of course a couple of major mistakes during the thirty year program resulted in accidents. It's understandable that most people focus on the accidents and the cost, but it's too bad more people don't realize how amazing it was.
Canadians (mostly engineer refugees from the Avro Arrow project) made designs that would evolve into the Apollo Capsule, CSM and Lander, and many of them worked on the Apollo programs entirety. A Canadian company designed and built the legs for the Lander.
Sure, Americans landed on the moon, but Canadian Engineers helped get them there.
I like to say that the first part of the lunar lander hat touched the moon was Canadian :)
Also don't forget the big contribution from Germany :D
Appreciate the "crew mutiny" story...
Most rebellious activity a Canadian has ever engaged in...
Those astronauts were American, but if you want to consider the Canadarm as crew member #3, that works! :)
@@JustSomeCanuck Sorry. . .
When I was in university (early 00s) I went on a tour of the facility that built the CanadArm in Mississauga. We were told there were 4, one destroyed in Challenger, and three in service. Of the three in service, we were told that one was in Mississauga for refurbishment (the one we saw), one was ready for integration, and one was in space or on a shuttle. Was also lucky enough to see Dextre before launch when it was at this facility. Remember it being suspended and held up by wires.
We are (and have been since C2) in Brampton! :) Very cool facility, glad to hear you got to see it!!
Love the dive into how the grapple works. Those sorts of fine details are why I watch your vids.
Yay Canada! I always thought the Canadarm was cool. A big salute to them (using my Shoulder, Elbow, and Wrist Joints)! :D
Is your end effector (hand) facing out (Army salute) or down (Navy Salute)? ∠(^ー^)
@@professor-josh Up?
Space salute?
@@professor-josh lol someone either served or was a Cadet!
@@nuru666 No, just a history/space dork.
Fun fact: I helped package the Canadarm2 when I was 16 years old. It was a summer job and I got to accompany 2 master crate makers on site.
Please Remember also that many of the engineers on the apollo program came from Canada as Avro cancelled the Arrow program (at the urging/bribery/threats from USA?). Canada has a long history of strong engineering knowledge and training.
The Avro Arrow. The story that fills me with equal parts national pride, and complete blinding rage.
Tbh the Arrow program fell apart for just as many internal reasons as external. Still, it had a lot of potential (in fact, more potential for civil advancement than military).
The Canadarm2 on the ISS along with DEXTRE is one of my favorite parts of the entire space program. The PDGF allowing the arm to inchworm around the station is just such an incredibly cool design.
Always been proud of the Canadarm, nice to finally learn how it works.
I worked in Ottawa at the National Research Council when the arm was being engineered. Massive computer for the engineers to use. How I found out was they had a long wall of math and when I asked what that was they said the Canadarm. Way over my head but cool all the same.
My wife worked on the camera systems for the Canadarm 3. Thanks for featuring a Canadian space technology Scott!
Canada salutes you Scott!
Hello Scott. We're very happy to see you cover more of the Canadian contribution to the ISS and of the Canadian aerospace industry, which is booming now.
So keep your eyes on us in the coming years! Thanks for all you do. Your science outreach efforts important and appreciated.
Literally the only Canadian Arms race...
Unlike Soccer, we can win this one. . .
As a Canadian ,I am very proud of that arm!
The camera is in space, that's why we can't hear stuff, there is no air to convey the sound.
This finally proves Scott is an alien, living in space
There is no milk in Space. Here, use cream
Somewhere I heard that a lot of Canadian engineers went south to work on Apollo for NASA or NASA contractors when the Avro Arrow program was canceled. Canada's aerospace industry was counting on that program and when it was cut it resulted in a big brain drain.
That is correct. 32 Avro engineers went to work for NASA's nascent Space Task Group (which would later become the Johnson Space Center). STG was less than a year old at the time and had just 37 engineers before the Canadians joined. This was two years before Alan Shepard's flight, so there was a Canadian contingent at the core of America's manned space program pretty much from the start. As a result, many of them were in key senior positions by the time Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the Moon.
Other Avro engineers went to work in private aerospace companies in the US and UK, contributing to many projects including the Concorde.
Truly, the cancellation of the Arrow program is a dark, dark day in the history of Canada's industrial and technological development.
The Prime Minister responsible for cutting that program is not remembered fondly here.
@@JonMartinYXDWrong. Avro engineers took their knowledge and shared it to help create what would later be called the CSA.
Thanks for the informative video. One of my uncles was an engineer who worked at General Electric in Peterborough, Ontario on the development of the CANDU reactor refueling machines.
When you record the new audio, please do it in a classic Kung Fu movie overdub voice. Please!
Scott... please NEVER stop making videos. Always enjoyable and interesting.
I met Chris Hadfield very briefly while he was doing a meet-and-greet at the Gatineau air show a couple of years ago. How anyone could be that smart and that down-to-earth at the same time just boggles me.
In 2011 I was standing next to him at KSC with a few other people gathered around talking to him. At that time few people knew who he was, as it had been ten years since his last spaceflight. I think the others in the small group talking to him were Canadian, I just base that on their enthusiasm talking to him. He really did seem down to Earth. Listening to him answer someone's question I heard him mention that his next flight would be to ISS. If I had a chance to talk I was going to ask him more about that but he had to leave. I found out later that he would be commander on that mission, and of course he started playing the guitar on orbit and became one of the most famous astronauts.
I did get to meet Robert Thirsk. When he was on ISS he was always interesting to listen to when he talked about things on the ISS. When I met him I asked if he had done any teaching and he said no. I told him he would be good at it. Not sure if I had any influence on him though.
We (MDA) are hard at work on canadarm 3, here in Toronto. Going to be a big beauty of a space robot!
I have never seen a detailed description and animation about how the grapple and locking target system works, so thanks for the enlightening video!
Yay!!! Go Canada!! Thanks for doing this Scott!!
This was great 🙏. Way more informative than I thought it would be (I had no idea I was so uninformed). So thank you
13:15
I appreciate the inclusion of this particular clip showing that particular astronaut. 👍
4:44 The term for controlling an end effector to a point is "inverse kinematics." Really simple but interesting bit of maths.
Thanks for giving us a little Canadian history on the space shuttle equipment. 🇨🇦
My grandfather worked for Spar Aerospace here in Ontario doing part measurement for the arm. Was always really impressed with that. From my talks with him I believe he did CMM (part dimension testing/confirmation).
I cut the grass there, in my teens. Awesome guys to chat with on lunch. It's a small thing, but it was my favourite place to cut, they were always nice to us.
@@CoreyKearney Was that in Mississauga or Brampton?
@@youtubasoarus Brampton location.
@@CoreyKearney Nice! I think my grandfather was out at the mississauga location.
Yay! Canadarm video! 🇨🇦
I once had the chance to visit the Canadian Space Agency's headquarters. Ever since that moment, I've dreamed of working there 😎
Can you tell me about it? I live fairly close to there and would like to visit someday. Do they give tours? (I'm assuming that you're referring to HQ at St-Hubert)
@@kelseyduerksen6404 Yes, it can be visited. And there are many things to see for the public. Even some expositions sometimes, I remember those huge tents they installed outside for those.
That's from back in the day when I used to work there as an intern.
You really should cover STS-51-F, the only Space Shuttle Mission which did a Abort-To-Orbit, it’s really interesting,if you’ve already covered this then that’s ok.
Chris Hadkey's Space Oddity has got to be one of the greatest live performances ive ever experienced. Almost out of this world!
He has an album
@@lynngreydanus-smith8816 I'll check it out
You can not ask for better neighbors! A firm handshake at the end of their arms. Thanks for recognizing our good friends to the North.
I worked with Canadian engineers to develop the flight software for Canadarm. It was a pleasure to work with them on something that hadn't been done before. Our (IBM) SRMS software was error free for the first flight!
At about the 8 minute mark, I really thought I was listening to a rendition of the turbo encabulator... Nicely done.
Great video, Scott! You're forgiven for your oversight. 😀
My personal connection with the Canadarm was that I used to curl (yes, this is Canada) with an engineer who worked at SPAR Aerospace (now MDA), which built the arm.
Canadarm2 is of course printed on the Canadian $5 bill
I worked on Canadarm 1 in the mid 70's. As a freelance mechanical draughtsman (age 25) I was seconded to work for the engineering consultants Dilworth, Secord, Meagher and Associates in Toronto. Myself and another draughtsman, Ian Farmer from Coventry (25), worked on drawings for the test rig, manufactured in order to simulate weightless conditions so that the arm could be tested for all of its functions and movements on earth. Ian and I worked under an engineer at DSMA, another Scot by the name of........Bill (William) Wallace who came from Carstairs in Lanarkshire. Bill was older than myself and Ian, perhaps about 40 years old. After 3 years in Canada I came back to Glasgow in 1978 while I was still working on the Canadarm contract. It wasn't even referred to as Canadarm at that time by those working on it like myself. Bill Wallace also came back to live in Scotland around 1980 and Ian Farmer still lives in Toronto as far as I am aware.
I am now 71 and retired.............and working on this project is certainly one of the highlights of my working life.
4:42 Dude, that is so cute the “Hi mom!” sign
Fun fact, after the Avro Arrow project was shut down because of Sputnik, many engineers from Avro Canada went to NASA for work and helped with the Gemini and Apollo missions!
Thank you for posting this, Scott. My father was the Chief Reliability Engineer for the Canadarm project at SPAR Aerospace (SPAR is now called MDA). I lost my Dad five years ago, so seeing this brought back some fond memories of the time that he spent working on this project.
Thanks that was great! I learned a lot about that most versatile bit of equipment. Good job Canada!! Thanks Scott.
Amazing how it can attach it's head then detach it's tail, to migrate around the station like some crazy bionic alien worm.
Thanks, Scott. Nicely done.
Wish I had seen this level of details long ago. such a great (ly accepted) contribution for space exploration. Thx for sharing!
The insights you offer are why I subscribe, Scott.
Hey, Scott! Thanks for putting this together. I always look forward to your videos; so well researched, entertaining, and comprehensive. I walk by the Canadarm Latching End Effector (LEE) often, and just saw it today while leading a tour through our manufacturing facility in Montreal where we are refurbishing the LEE after seventeen years of service on the ISS. Great to see your videos of LEE in action in it's native environment! Keep up the great work... and fly safe!
Oops...no audio, Scott. SORRY... EDIT: rebooted my Android tablet. Sound is now audible.
In my engineering school I was lucky to learn from some engineers who worked on the original Canadarm and some who are working on the next Canadarm for Gateway; lots of interesting stuff in the design and development. Also got a tour of their assembly facility and saw that giant air hockey table!
Main struts (leg) for the Apollo lunar landers were made in Quebec. So Canada makes space arms and legs.
I am very proud to have worked with one of a group of Atlantic Canadian Companies subcontracted to manufacture the majority of the parts for the Electric motors that powered the Joints of the Canadarm and Canadarm II.
Now that I am retired looking back it was one of the highlights of my career in the aerospace and medical Manufacturing IND in eastern CANADA. Lots of well trained highly skilled and motivated professionals on the eastern coast of Canada took part in this endever.
Great to watch a video on this great contribution by Canada to the Space shuttle and the ISS programs .
PS; Scott Manley, keep up the great work.
Scott, that was a noble effort to make up for your little oversight. I'm not Canadian, but I proclaim you forgiven anyway.
The Canadarms are amazing. Much love for DEXTRE too.
I have been following space news off and on since the Orbiter days, and I don't ever remember learning about the boom extension and sensor system for the Orbiter Canadarm. Great video once again, your capacity to research and inform is impeccable.
That was a great episode! Thank you for this one!
Thanks for this walk down memory lane. No, I work directly with the Canadarm(s), but I did work with the Space Vision System (SVS) and Laser Camera System (LCS), both which were used in Canadarm operations. SVS was the machine vision system that uses those black-and-white dots (e.g, @9:40, @11:44, ...) and was used for assembling new elements of the ISS. It gave the relative pose (x,y,z,yaw,pitch,roll) of two modules while the Canadarm/2 was berthing the new module, and did it from the cameras at the far end of the shuttle bay often 50 to 75 feet away, looking at the side or back of the module.
I supported 13 SVS flight including the first ISS assembly (STS-88), and 6 from MCC including STS-100 where Canadian Chris Hadfield installed Canadarm2 on the ISS using the Shuttle Canadarm and Canadian SVS system (which I was supporting in MCC), with Canadian astronaut Steve MacLean as CAPCOM in MCC. (Canadian astronaut Bjarni Tryggvason was CAPCOM on night shift.)
LCS was the 3D imaging laser on the OBSS. It's the shiny silver looking box with the window @7:14. I still remember viewing the first data in MCC on STS-105, the Return-to-Flight mission 2 years after Columbia. It was both sad circumstances but satisfying as an engineer to contribute to returning to flight, especially after working with LCS for 4 years at that point. An interesting legacy was the evolution from LCS to TriDAR rendezvous and docking sensor which flew on STS-128, 131, and 135 and has been flying on the Cygnus re-supply vehicles since 2011.
It's been a privilege to be involved in these programs, including assisting on the Canadarm3 program in recent years, but there's nothing like the days of engineering R&D, weekends in the black lab, and MCC mission support. Some pretty funny stories too. If I'm lucky my kids will be able to say the same about the Lunar Gateway and moon missions in the coming decades. (If I'm really lucky, I might get a few more stories too.)
Thanks for triggering these memories, Scott.
Watching from the Canadian Rockies. Great Canadian contribution to the SpaceRace, and a fantastic interpretation again Scott! Merci!
i think STS-41-D used the arm to examine an icicle forming on the outside of Discovery, and the person manoeuvring the arm was Dr. Judith Resnik, who was heavily involved in the development of the Canadarm. It’s unfortunate that everyone remembers her for how she died, when she developed NASA’s software and onboard operating procedures for the Canadarm.
Safe to say, the Shuttle wouldn't have been half as capable as it was without the Canadarm. Bravo to our neighbors to the North.
9:05 - Has it ever moved something heavier than the Space Shuttle? In which case, wouldn't it be, in essence, the Space Shuttle moving around the object / the object picks up the space shuttle?
Canadian - Thank you for this video, the CanadaArm was developed in a neighbouring city, we visited the location several times when I was in the Royal Canadian Air Cadets (ie Civil Air Patrol, yes, I had to say the entire name :-p) - Apology Accepted :-p
I'm thinking the Shuttle's maneuvering thrusters would be firing to reorient it if necessary or prevent a buildup of torsional forces if things start spinning around each other. Otherwise, yes, but it's a difference without a distinction. If the object being manipulated masses the same as the shuttle/station at the other end of the arm then the two objects both move relative to a disassociated observer. Which object is moving and which is not is... relative.
I have a shuttle flight simulator program SMS 2005. It allows you to operate the Canadarm to deploy and capture satellites and build the ISS. You do actual mission performed by the shuttle including STS100 where you install the Canadarm2 on the ISS. You can also dock the shuttle to the space station. I have a viewer that allows you to do spacewalks in 3D. It is a really fun program, but like the real shuttle and missions, there is a challenging learning curve to it.
Red Green would be proud, ya gotta love that duct tape safety covering don't ya know, by golly🤔
As a Canadian I am very appreciative of this dedicated Canada Arm video. It is unfortunate that the audio isn't the best but it is kind of fitting given our tiny involvement in space 😂. Nevertheless, another great knowledge filled video!
Thanks Scott for the info
The Canada Arm Air hockey test rig is on display at the National Aviation Museum in Ottawa.
If you are ever wondering how the German ü is pronounced, it's how Manley Scott pronounces boom at 14:03.
Pretty interesting indeed! Thanks, Scott! 😊
Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
Oh Scott, I love your videos. Lol. Fly safe
always enjoy the videos scott
Canada also built all the landing gear for the Apollo decent modules . They are of course still on the moon. Built by Heroux Machine Parts near Montreal.
When I graduated highschool (~5-6 years ago) I was fountinate enough to meet a man who worked on both the Canadarm emergency retract protocol and Dextre.
For Canadarm emergency retract, Nasa set a strict retract time so that the arm could get out of the way incase a capture spacecraft started tumbling towards the station. He told me in order for the arm to move that fast it needed both redundant power supplies to be on at once, but Nasa wouldn't allow any modifications to the hardware or regular arm software as it would require recertification. So their program actually tricks the arm's powersupplies into thinking the other one failed so that they would both activate.
Also for Dexture he told me the robot arms weren't strong enough to move on earth so they would use a pully system to test it on the ground. According to him there was a couple of times where they would leave for the night and come back in the morning to find one of the arms would be in a completely different position as some of the pullies would lose a little tension overnight. Then they would freak out as a group as they almost damaged a multi-million dollar robot.
Dude teaches computer science at one of my local colleges!
I am always so proud of my county's contributions to space dispite our painful lack of launch vehicles.
So grateful for this video - the Canada Arms are about 1000x cooler than I knew before!
Fascinating detail here about the effector mechanism. I had previously always thought it was like a camera aperture which constricted onto any object that could be constricted onto rather than onto special grapple fixtures. I remember when the arm was in development (along with the rest of the Shuttle) and concept art depicted the arm as having essentially a mitten-like effector which simply grabbed stuff. Of course, the problem in zero-G was having objects nudged away before they could be grabbed and so the design was changed.
Don't forget the tip of the hat to Beth Rather & the crew at Forth Inc. for the embedded software control system from back in the day when embedded C was still getting off the ground.
Thanks so much Scott ... I'm Canadian and didn't even know this much about the arm -- until now!!
Having gone to Canadian primary school in the 80s, we had a cool exercise where we put wires in toilet paper rolls and made our own canadarm! You can spin the toilet paper role (with yarn) and grab anything!
Great video, this Space crazy Canadian guy learned surprisingly a lot. Thank you for this, Scott!
Great episode, Scott
I spent my career as a mechanical designer (no degree) mostly for microwave antennas (they were never referred to as antennae). I did work on the ISS Electronic Control Unit (ECU) for the beta gimbal and I had to design an grapple interface with the Canada Arm. The ECU was EVA or Canada Arm replaceable.
The grapple was itself was designed by Canada, but I had to design an indicator that the robotic camera could see. The NASA requirement was that soft dock and hard dock could be seen by the camera.
Soft dock was that a ball detent was engaged so if the ECU was let go of, it would not float away. Hard dock was a fully engaged unit.
I went from working on the ISS ECU to Hughes Satellites where in the mid to late 90's, I worked on design of TDRS satellites (I think they H, I &J) and in the 20-teens, worked on the next generation TDRS satellites (I believe K, L & M).
I was never able to find a decent picture of the ECU for the beta gimbal and I don't know if one was ever replaced on orbit.
As a Canadian, you're forgiven Scott. We're nice like that!
As a German, I tend to read its name as Cana-Darm. "Darm" means "colon" or "intestine". 😅
As a Dutchy too :P
ya know we put a flag in the wordmark for a reason. 😁
I was thinking they should make a stripped down version that could fit inside the Trunk of the Crew Dragon so they could go Upgrade the Hubble....
Then Leave it attached for Future upgrades.