The Telerobotics Program is an element of NASA's ongoing research program, under the responsibility of the Office of Space Science (OSS), with joint management by the Office of Space Flight (OSF). OSS has the charter is to develop new technology for the United States aerospace program, and to stimulate and assist industry in commercialization of this technology. This program is designed to develop telerobotic capabilities for remote mobility and manipulation, by merging robotics and teleoperations and creating new telerobotics technologies.
Space telerobotics technology requirements can be characterized by the need for manual and automated control, non-repetitive tasks, time delay between operator and manipulator, flexible manipulators with complex dynamics, novel locomotion, operations in the space environment, and the ability to recover from unplanned events. To meet these needs, the program is focused on the following goal:
Develop and demonstrate the required technology so that by the year 2004, 50% of the EVA-required operations on orbit and on planetary surfaces may be conducted telerobotically
The Space Telerobotics Program consists of a wide range of tasks from
basic scientific research to applications developed to solve specific operations
problems. The program is focused on three specific mission or application
areas: on-orbit assembly and servicing, science payload tending, and planetary
surface robotics. Within each of these areas, the program supports the development
of robotic component technologies, development of complete robots, and implementation
of complete robotic systems focussed on the specific mission needs. These
three segments align with the application of space telerobotics to the class
of missions identified by the potential space robotics user community.
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