Grapple fixtures are used on spacecraft or other objects to provide a secure connection for a robotic arm.
[5] Unpiloted ships like the SpaceX Dragon, Orbital ATK Cygnus and Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle include a standard FRGF which is used by the Canadarm2 to grapple the capsule on approach to the International Space Station for berthing.
[7] It has a single electrical connection for data, power,[7] and video from cameras on the manipulators.
Kibo (ISS module) Remote Manipulator System (Japanese Experiment Module Remote Manipulator System) uses a similar grapple fixture, called Electro Mechanical Grapple Fixture (EMGF).
[4] It has electrical connectors for data, video, and power; it is also the only North American grapple fixture that is replaceable on-orbit.
During the penultimate Space Shuttle flight a PDGF was installed on the Zarya module to support Canadarm2 operations based from the Russian segment.