A Sensor-based Telerobotic System for the Space Robot Experiment ROTEX

Abstract

The space robot technology experiment ROTEX to fly with the next spacelab mission D2 in 1993 provides a sensor-controlled robot which is supposed to work in an autonomous mode, teleoperated by astronauts, and teleoperated from ground. The robot's key features are its multisensory gripper and the local ("shared") sensory feedback schemes. The corresponding man-machine interface concepts using a 6 dof control ball and visual feedback to the human operator are explained. Sensory simulation on ground using advanced stereo graphics is supposed to predict the sensor based path refinement on board, while realtime fusion of stereo images and laser range information helps to predict the motion of floating objects to be grasped. The telesensorprogramming concept is explained as well as the learning schemes involved.