Robot Tools The NASA Space Telerobotics Program

Program Description

The NASA Telerobotics Program addresses the three specific mission and 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 manipulation and mobility aspects of the mission needs. These three program segments align with the application of space telerobotics to the class of missions identified by the potential space robotics user community.

It is important to note that the tasks selected for the three focussed segments of the program address requirements of the class of missions planned by the user organizations, and not necessarily one specific mission. For example, the tasks in the Exploration Robotics element of the program are selected to address the full suite of technologies required for autonomous Mars and Lunar surface robotic exploration, and not just the earliest planned mission from the associated user plan. This accomplishes two things: requirements from individual user missions are well leveraged with those of other missions, and program tasks which target requirements common to multiple missions remain relevent to user activities even in the event that a particular mission should be modified or canceled.


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On-orbit Assembly and Servicing

The On-orbit Assembly and Servicing segment of the program is focussed on the development of space robotics for eventual application to on-orbit satellite servicing by both free-flying and platform attached servicing robots. The purpose of this segment of the program is to focus the development of component technologies into applications and environments which will demonstrate their utility and additional capability when incorporated into operational systems. These technologies include virtual reality telepresence, advanced display technologies, proximity sensing for perception technologies, and robotic flaw detection. The target applications include such tasks as repair of free-flying small satellites, ground-based control of robotic servicers, robotic assembly of space structures , and servicing of external space platform payloads. Each of these areas have been identified by the potential space robotics user community as applications where space robotics will be necessary to satisfy their planned requirements. This user community includes Space Station Alpha, Mission to Planet Earth, the Space Transportation System and anticipated commercial space system developers.

An example of a systems-level implementation of this assembly and servicing technology is the Ranger flight experiment. The Ranger system include four manipulators: two 7-DOF bilateral dexterous manipulator, a 6-DOF grappling manipulator for worksite stability, and a 5-DOF camera positioning manipulator to locate a pair of stereo video cameras. A second video camera on the vehicle centerline will provide a stable visual reference for free-flight maneuvering and autonomous docking. Ranger will be controlled from a ground station at the University of Maryland, and will provide valuable data in correlation of neutral buoyancy simulations, advanced telerobotics control and design, remote maneuvering, human factors of ground-based control for space telerobots, and advanced small spacecraft technology.

Activities within this segment of the program include:

Science Payload Robotics

The Science Payload Robotics segment of the program matures technologies for robotics which will be used inside astronaut-occupied environments (i.e. inside pressurized living space) to maintain and service science payloads. This capability will off-load the requirements for intensive astronaut maintenance of these payloads, and permit operation of the payloads during periods when astronauts may not be present (i.e., during the man-tended phase of space station). The technologies under development by this portion of the program include light weight manipulators, redundant safety systems, and self-deploying mechanisms . The specific application areas include IVA robotics for Space Station Alpha and laboratory tending robotics for SpaceLab and SpaceHab, as well as other payloads for the Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications.

Activities within this segment of the program include: Plan

Exploration Robotics

The Exploration Robotics portion of the program develops robotics for reconnaissance and surveying systems for the exploration of the Moon and Mars. These plans call for robotic reconnaissance and surveying systems preceding the eventual human missions to these bodies. During such missions robots will explore potential landing sites and areas of scientific interest, place science instruments, and gather samples for analysis and possible return to Earth. The robotic systems required for these operations will require high levels of local autonomy, including the ability to perform local navigation, identify areas of potential scientific interest, regulate on-board resources, and schedule activities, all with limited ground command intervention. The objectives of the tasks within this segment of the program are to develop these abilities, as well as conduct research into mobility systems , miniature mechanisms , control execution, navigation planning , autonomous exploration, sample acquisition and other technologies to enable high levels of local autonomy and operational applications such as emplacement of science instruments, sample collection, and in-situ analysis. Specific missions which are supported include the Mars Pathfinder Rover flight experiment, the Mars Global Surveyor project and other programs planned by the Office of Space Science Solar System Exploration Division and the Planetary Exploration Office user communities, as well as other commercial lunar resource utilization opportunities.

It is important to note that the tasks selected for the three focussed segments of the program address requirements of the class of missions planned by the user organizations, and not necessarily one specific mission. For example, the tasks in the Exploration Robotics section of the program are selected to address the full suite of technologies required for autonomous Mars and Lunar surface robotic exploration, and not just the earliest planned mission from the associated user community. One implication of this approach is that the requirements from individual user missions are well leveraged with those of other missions, and program tasks which target requirements common to multiple missions are less likely to need revision in the event that a particular user mission should be modified or canceled.

Activities within this segment of the program include:

Component Technology

The other area of the program, Component Technology, is dedicated to the development of robotics technology elements which are of potential benefit to multiple robotics requirements. These more basic elements are typically long lead-time items, which may take many years to fully develop to an appropriate level of maturity. If successfully completed, these elements characteristically may significantly improve or even revolutionize the state of the art. This portion of the current program includes such elements as fundamentally new robotic joint designs, exoskeleton systems, fundamental robotic control theory development, and widely-applicable proximity sensor technology. One example is a prototype three-level fault tolerant hand controller with force feedback , developed at the University of Texas at Austin which is being examined for potential application in on-orbit operator control stations.The long term goal of this effort is to develop a series of component technologies which can then be incorporated into larger robot assemblies and full application systems. This effort is phased such that technology components "spin-off" from the component development level to the next level on a regular basis. It is anticipated that this area will continue throughout the life of the program, producing an increasingly-beneficial series of fundamental technologies.

Activities within this segment of the program include: Plan

Terrestrial and Commercial Applications

The Terrestrial and Commercial Applications portion of the program also provides a mechanism for the application of developed technologies into terrestrial task environments during the period when easy access to space environments for experimentation and development is not possible. These tasks move the technologies developed in the other elements of the program from the laboratory setting into operational use, and take advantage of the relatively easy terrestrial access, well understood environments, and myriad problems to be solved to demonstrate the applicability of space telerobotics.

In addition, this element of the program includes tasks intended to rapidly move program-developed technology out into the commercial applications community. The intent of these tasks is ultimately to improve the national economic competitiveness of the United States and to improve the technology transfer efforts of the agency through the development of commercializable applications which draw upon space telerobotics technologies. These projects are jointly conducted by program laboratories and industrial partners to create and demonstrate full system prototype solutions to well understood terrestrial problems which can positively impact significant areas of the national economy.

As an example, a prototype system is under development to robotically perform preflight and post-flight inspections and rewaterproofing of approximately 20,000 thermal protection tiles on the lower surface of the space shuttle orbiter. This system will automate a process which currently is highly human-intensive, fatiguing, dangerous (due to chemical exposure), and of significant operational impact. The solution, known as the Tesselator , is expected to save more than 600 hours of labor, result in a significant reduction in paperwork, and save as much as $250,000 per orbiter processing flow.

Activities within this segment of the program include: Plan

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Maintained by: Dave Lavery
Last updated: September 19, 1997