3.5 Related Activities

Within the NASA Telerobotics Program the majority of the technology development tasks are funded entirely by the focussed program, with the minority of the technology development tasks funded within the Robotics Technology portion of the program. Some of the program tasks which target application of telerobotics technology are cofunded by the relevant project or applications offices.

In addition, there are several efforts sponsored by other NASA offices which contribute to the development of telerobotics technology for space applications, and augment the efforts of the Telerobotics Program. These include fully cooperative programs within OSAT, funding of the NASA telerobotics task teams discussed above by user codes directly sponsoring ancillary tasks, and programs which fund external organizations to conduct telerobotics research and development.

The Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program funds several telerobotics projects being conducted by small industry organizations. These activities are typically sponsored and monitored by members of the Telerobotics Program at the NASA field centers, and the products of these SBIR activities are frequently incorporated directly into the program at the center level. The SBIR research is enhancing the overall telerobotics research capability at NASA by providing additional research resources and personnel which can offer an alternative source for innovation and rapid development to augment the existing capabilities of the Telerobotics Program.

The Space Shuttle Remote Manipulator System Operations program, under the management of NASA Code MEO, develops algorithms and technologies to augment the capabilities of the RMS. This office worked with members of the telerobotics task team at JSC to conduct the RMS come-along experiment, and the addition of a force-torque sensor capability to the RMS in FY 92.

Also, OSAT has negotiated with JPL and the U. S. Army Tank Automotive Command (TACOM) to put into place a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which agrees to cooperate in the utilization of unmanned vehicle research facilities and capabilities. This MOU permits NASA to make use of the TACOM unmanned vehicle control station, avoiding the time and expense required to duplicate this capability which is required to continue the efforts of the mobile robotics tasks. The MOU also allows the granting and monitoring of grants funded by TACOM in the area of unmanned vehicle research.

The development of telerobotics technology is considered of significant importance to the future of the NASA space exploration program and the overall position of the United States robotics industry in the global economy. A number of robotics and telerobotics research programs are being conducted by other government, public, and private organizations. Those with special relevance to the NASA Telerobotics Program include:

	the Adaptive Suspension Vehicle Program, funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) and conducted at the Ohio State University, is researching mechanisms and algorithms for human-directed walking machines.
	the Manufacturing Engineering Research Program, conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is investigating automation in factory-floor settings, and the relative advantages of improved work cells against more capable manipulation systems. In previous years, NIST and the NASA telerobotics efforts have cooperatively developed several new technologies and architectures for the control of robotic systems. For example, the NASREM robot control architecture was jointly developed by NASA and NIST as a precursor to the NASA Flight Telerobotic Servicer program (which became part of the OAST (now OSAT) Telerobotics Program in FY91). The architecture is now used as a standard architecture definition methodology by many NASA, NIST, and industry projects. Also, NASA and NIST are currently negotiating further cooperative research efforts in this area.
	several programs sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) which both target and utilize telerobotics and robotics technology research and development. This includes NSF activities and facilities in the Antarctic which may be used as Mars analogs for the testing and demonstration of telerobotics technologies jointly and independently developed by NASA and NSF. In addition, NASA is also conducting discussions with the NSF Oceans Division and NSF Robotics and Intelligent Systems Division to investigate opportunities for transfer of NASA-developed robotics technologies to NSF grantees and research programs.
	the advanced teleoperation research and application program conducted by the Department of Energy (DoE) which is focussed on remote operations technology applied to nuclear materials processing and hazardous waste clean-up. The primary locations of robotics and telerobotics research within DoE are at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratory, and the current primary application site is the nuclear waste clean-up project at Idaho Falls, Idaho.
	the Department of Defense (DoD) is sponsoring several programs in teleoperations research. This includes a notable effort by the U. S. Navy into the use of unmanned remotely operated vehicles for underwater exploration, salvage, repair, and recovery.
	the planetary rover research program under IR&D funding by Lockheed-Martin Corporation, is investigating navigation systems, mobility systems, and architectures for future unmanned science rovers.
	the Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA) has worked closely with elements of the NASA Telerobotics Program for several years. Several products of the Telerobotics Program have been successfully transferred to ARPA, and incorporated in their systems. For example, the Task Control Architecture (TCA) developed for the program by Carnegie Mellon University has recently been selected by ARPA as the baseline architecture for their autonomous mobile robotics program (the TCA has also been selected by Tindle Air Force Base as the fundamental architecture for their Rapid Runway Repair robotics program). The ARPA programs have also produced elements incorporated into the NASA Telerobotics Program, including the Autonomous Land Vehicle system which was utilized as a component of the Dante Robotic Volcano Explorers project.

This list is not exhaustive. In addition, many universities now conduct robotic research, and there are several manufacturing robotics research efforts in the private sector.