Canadarm and Canadarm2 - Comparative table
| Canadarm | Canadarm2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Installed on each shuttle and returns to Earth. | Only one installed on the International Space Station and stays permanently in space. |
| Range of Motion | Reach limited to length of arm. | Moves end-over-end to reach many parts of International Space Station limited only by number of Power Date Grapple Fixtures on the Station (PDGF). PDGFs located around the Station provide power, data and video to the arm through its Latching End Effectors (LEE). The arm can also travel the entire length of the Space Station on the Mobile Base System. |
| Fixed joint | Fixed to the shuttle by one end. | No fixed end. Equipped with LEEs at each end. |
| Degrees of freedom | 6 degrees of freedom. Similar to a human arm: shoulder (2 joints), elbow (1 joint), and wrist (3 joints). | 7 degrees of freedom. Much like a human arm: shoulder (3 joints), elbow (1 joint), wrist (3 joints). However Canadarm2 can change configuration without moving its hands. |
| Joint rotation | Limited elbow rotation (to 160 degrees). | Full joint rotation. Joints (7) rotate 540 degrees. Larger range of motion than a human arm. |
| Senses | No sense of touch | Force mouvement sensors provide a sense of "touch." Automatic vision feature for capturing free-flying payloads. Automatic collision avoidance. |
| Length | 15 metres | 17 metres |
| Weight | 410 kg | 1,641 kg |
| Diameter | 33 cm (Ext. Diameter of Composite Boom) | 35 cm (Ext. Diameter of Composite Boom) |
| Speed of Operations | Unloaded: 60 cm/sec Loaded: 6 cm/sec |
Unloaded: 37 cm/sec
Loaded: 2 cm/sec Station assembly 2 cm/sec.; EVA support: 15 cm/sec.; Orbiter: 1.2 cm/sec |
| Composition | 16 plies of high modulus carbon fibre-epoxy | 19 plies of high strength carbon fibre–thermoplastic |
| Repairs | Repaired on Earth. | Designed to be repaired in space with ORUs (Orbital Replacement Units). Built-in redundancy. |
| Control | Autonomous operation or astronaut control | Autonomous operation or astronaut control |
| Cameras | 2 (one on the elbow and one on the wrist) | 4 colour cameras (one at each side of the elbow the other two on the LEEs) |
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