Advancing automation and robotics technology for the space station and for the US economy: Submitted to the United States Congress October 1, 1987

In April 1985, as required by Public Law 98-371, the NASA Advanced Technology Advisory Committee (ATAC) reported to Congress the results of its studies on advanced automation and robotics technology for use on the space station. This material was documented in the initial report (NASA Technical Memorandum 87566). A further requirement of the Law was that ATAC follow NASA's progress in this area and report to Congress semiannually. This report is the fifth in a series of progress updates and covers the period between 16 May 1987 and 30 September 1987. NASA has accepted the basic recommendations of ATAC for its space station efforts. ATAC and NASA agree that the mandate of Congress is that an advanced automation and robotics technology be built to support an evolutionary space station program and serve as a highly visible stimulator affecting the long-term U.S. economy

Computational Control of Flexible Aerospace Systems

The main objective of this project is to establish a distributed parameter modeling technique for structural analysis, parameter estimation, vibration suppression and control synthesis of large flexible aerospace structures. This report concentrates on the research outputs produced in the last two years of the project. The main accomplishments can be summarized as follows. A new version of the PDEMOD Code had been completed. A theoretical investigation of the NASA MSFC two-dimensional ground-based manipulator facility by using distributed parameter modelling technique has been conducted. A new mathematical treatment for dynamic analysis and control of large flexible manipulator systems has been conceived, which may provide a embryonic form of a more sophisticated mathematical model for future modified versions of the PDEMOD Codes

Robotic manipulation with flexible link fingers

A robot manipulator is a spatial mechanism consisting essentially of a series of bodies, called "links", connected to each other at "joints". The joints can be of various types: revolute, rotary, planar, prismatic, telescopic or combinations of these. A serial connection of the links results in an open-chain manipulator. Closed-chain manipulators result from non-serial (or parallel) connections between links. Actuators at the joints of the manipulator provide power for motion. A robot is usually not designed for a very specific or repetitive task which can be done equally well by task-specific machines. Its strength lies in its ability to handle a range of tasks by virtue of being "re-programmable". Therefore, in addition to the mechanical hardware two other elements are integral to the description of a robot: sensors and control. With the advent of micro-electronics and digital computers the availability of sensors is ever increasing and the control is usually done by software executed by computers which also collect the sensory data. It is possible to model quite accurately, the dynamics of robot manipulators for purposes of control. However, for most practical robots the models are complex and numerically intensive to calculate in real-time. Traditional analyses of robot manipulators consider the whole mechanism to be rigid. Relaxation of the assumption of rigidity leads to further complication of the dynamics of the manipulator, leading to more difficulties in control. The overall motion of the manipulator is augmented by additional motion due to the dynamics of flexibility which must be considered. Sensing is also made more difficult. However, the ability to control robots with significant structural flexibilities, referred to as flexible robots in the rest of this thesis, influences robotics in many ways. It allows for consideration of new applications, observance of less conservative structural design and performance enhancements in certain classes of robotic tasks, which will be addressed in greater detail in the sections which follow

NASA space station automation: AI-based technology review

Research and Development projects in automation for the Space Station are discussed. Artificial Intelligence (AI) based automation technologies are planned to enhance crew safety through reduced need for EVA, increase crew productivity through the reduction of routine operations, increase space station autonomy, and augment space station capability through the use of teleoperation and robotics. AI technology will also be developed for the servicing of satellites at the Space Station, system monitoring and diagnosis, space manufacturing, and the assembly of large space structures