Canadarm

The Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS), also known as Canadarm (Canadarm 1), is a series of robotic arms that were used on the Space Shuttle orbiters to deploy, maneuver and capture payloads. After the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, the Canadarm was always paired with the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS), which was used to inspect the exterior of the Shuttle for damage to the thermal protection system.

In 1969, Canada was invited by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to participate in the Space Shuttle program. At the time what that participation would entail had not yet been decided but a manipulator system was identified as an important component. Canadian company, DSMA Atcon, had developed a robot to load fuel into CANDU nuclear reactors; this robot attracted NASA's attention. In 1975, NASA and the Canadian National Research Council (NRC) signed a memorandum of understanding that Canada would develop and construct the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System.

NRC awarded the manipulator contract to Spar Aerospace. Three systems were constructed within this design, development, test and evaluation contract: an engineering model to assist in the design and testing of the Canadarm, a qualification model that was subjected to environmental testing to qualify the design for use in space, and a flight unit. Frank Mee is credited as the inventor of the Canadarm End Effector. Its design was inspired by the opening and closing of a camera's iris. His design won over the claw-like mechanisms that were being considered.

The main controls algorithms were developed by SPAR and by subcontractor Dynacon Inc. of Toronto. CAE Electronics Ltd. in Montreal provided the display and control panel and the hand controllers located in the Shuttle aft flight deck. Other electronic interfaces, servoamplifiers and power conditioners located on the Canadarm were designed and built by SPAR at its Montreal factory. The graphite composite boom that provides the structural connection between the shoulder and the elbow joint and the similar boom that connects the elbow to the wrist were produced by General Dynamics in the United States. Dilworth, Secord, Meagher and Associates, Ltd. in Toronto was contracted to produce the engineering model end effector then SPAR evolved the design and produced the qualification and flight units.The shuttle flight software that monitors and controls the Canadarm was developed in Houston, Texas, by the Federal Systems Division of IBM. Rockwell International's Space Transportation Systems Division designed, developed, tested and built the systems used to attach the Canadarm to the payload bay of the orbiter.

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