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Ever-increasing space debris poses a great threat to spacecraft safety; its removal debuts as an innovative technology and will be in demand in the future. This article proposes a design for micro/nano joint satellites composed of four micro/nanosatellites with high maneuverability to clear space debris. The design incorporates two operating modes with typical applications, and the joint satellite features and essential key technologies are introduced. With the aim to demonstrate well-performed image data fusion and processing of the design, four cameras with different spectral and optical properties are installed for each micro/nanosatellite to acquire images and spectral characteristics for multifeatured identification of debris based on comprehensive analysis. Due to the different remote sensing payloads of the four micro/nanosatellites, the joint satellite is also capable of remote sensing. Compared with a single micro/nanosatellite, the joint satellite is more accurate for debris identification and rapid on-orbit maneuverability in addition to the superior flexibility brought by a touch-and-unfold separating removal mechanism.

The paper presents a wall-climbing robot featuring self-compliance for variable curvature façades. The high payload and maneuverability make it highly potential in heavy-duty operation of industrial applications. The robot consists of two traction modules and one link module. Each traction module is equipped with magnetic adhesion and crawler traction submodules. The two traction modules are connected by the link module with 4 degrees of freedom (DoF) of passive compliance. Variable curvature façade self-compliance is achieved by the passive compliant link module, which results in the attitude change decoupling of the two traction modules. The attitude can be adjusted under the effect of magnetic adhesion force to comply with the curvature variations. High payloads are achieved by the large contact area between the crawler and the surface. Omni-directional high maneuverability is enabled by the speed difference between the motors of two traction modules. The robot can maneuver in any direction on the surface with a minimum radius of 1 m and carry 36 kg payload on vertical surfaces.

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) are the mainstream equipment for underwater scientific research and engineering. However, it remains a great challenge for AUVs to carry out near-seabed operations because of their poor maneuverability. In this paper, a new design for a high-maneuverability disc-shaped AUV is proposed, namely, the Autonomous Underwater Helicopter (AUH). We designed the AUH’s propulsion system through dynamic analysis based on the unique disc shape. The experimental prototype was built by mechatronics technology, after which several motion experiments were carried out to demonstrate the high maneuverability. We find that the prototype has high maneuverability: it can cruise at 0.8 m/s (about 1.5 knots), at least; its turning radius is zero and its turning speed is at least 20 deg/s; and the motion of specific curves in a small range was completed. It is demonstrated that over-actuation is not necessary for the high-maneuverability AUH because of its unique disc shape. A propulsion system consisting of four propellers and a buoyancy adjustment system is used for the highly maneuverable AUH. In addition, the AUH may be a solution for near-seafloor operations.