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

Human Factors Simulation Research at the University of Pennsylvania

Jack is a Silicon Graphics Iris 4D workstation-based system for the definition, manipulation, animation, and human factors performance analysis of simulated human figures. Built on a powerful representation for articulated figures, Jack offers the interactive user a simple, intuitive, and yet extremely capable interface into any 3-D articulated world. Jack incorporates sophisticated systems for anthropometric human figure generation, multiple limb positioning under constraints, view assessment, and strength model-based performance simulation of human figures. Geometric workplace models may be easily imported into Jack. Various body geometries may be used, from simple polyhedral volumes to contour-scanned real figures. High quality graphics of environments and clothed figures are easily obtained. Descriptions of some work in progress are also included

Autonomous Mechanical Assembly on the Space Shuttle: An Overview

The space shuttle will be equipped with a pair of 50 ft. manipulators used to handle payloads and to perform mechanical assembly operations. Although current plans call for these manipulators to be operated by a human teleoperator. The possibility of using results from robotics and machine intelligence to automate this shuttle assembly system was investigated. The major components of an autonomous mechanical assembly system are examined, along with the technology base upon which they depend. The state of the art in advanced automation is also assessed

Ground Robotic Hand Applications for the Space Program study (GRASP)

This document reports on a NASA-STDP effort to address research interests of the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) through a study entitled, Ground Robotic-Hand Applications for the Space Program (GRASP). The primary objective of the GRASP study was to identify beneficial applications of specialized end-effectors and robotic hand devices for automating any ground operations which are performed at the Kennedy Space Center. Thus, operations for expendable vehicles, the Space Shuttle and its components, and all payloads were included in the study. Typical benefits of automating operations, or augmenting human operators performing physical tasks, include: reduced costs; enhanced safety and reliability; and reduced processing turnaround time

Planning and Control Strategies for Motion and Interaction of the Humanoid Robot COMAN+

Despite the majority of robotic platforms are still confined in controlled environments such as factories, thanks to the ever-increasing level of autonomy and the progress on human-robot interaction, robots are starting to be employed for different operations, expanding their focus from uniquely industrial to more diversified scenarios. Humanoid research seeks to obtain the versatility and dexterity of robots capable of mimicking human motion in any environment. With the aim of operating side-to-side with humans, they should be able to carry out complex tasks without posing a threat during operations. In this regard, locomotion, physical interaction with the environment and safety are three essential skills to develop for a biped. Concerning the higher behavioural level of a humanoid, this thesis addresses both ad-hoc movements generated for specific physical interaction tasks and cyclic movements for locomotion. While belonging to the same category and sharing some of the theoretical obstacles, these actions require different approaches: a general high-level task is composed of specific movements that depend on the environment and the nature of the task itself, while regular locomotion involves the generation of periodic trajectories of the limbs. Separate planning and control architectures targeting these aspects of biped motion are designed and developed both from a theoretical and a practical standpoint, demonstrating their efficacy on the new humanoid robot COMAN+, built at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia. The problem of interaction has been tackled by mimicking the intrinsic elasticity of human muscles, integrating active compliant controllers. However, while state-of-the-art robots may be endowed with compliant architectures, not many can withstand potential system failures that could compromise the safety of a human interacting with the robot. This thesis proposes an implementation of such low-level controller that guarantees a fail-safe behaviour, removing the threat that a humanoid robot could pose if a system failure occurred

Motion Control of the Hybrid Wheeled-Legged Quadruped Robot Centauro

Emerging applications will demand robots to deal with a complex environment, which lacks the structure and predictability of the industrial workspace. Complex scenarios will require robot complexity to increase as well, as compared to classical topologies such as fixed-base manipulators, wheeled mobile platforms, tracked vehicles, and their combinations. Legged robots, such as humanoids and quadrupeds, promise to provide platforms which are flexible enough to handle real world scenarios; however, the improved flexibility comes at the cost of way higher control complexity. As a trade-off, hybrid wheeled-legged robots have been proposed, resulting in the mitigation of control complexity whenever the ground surface is suitable for driving. Following this idea, a new hybrid robot called Centauro has been developed inside the Humanoid and Human Centered Mechatronics lab at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT). Centauro is a wheeled-legged quadruped with a humanoid bi-manual upper-body. Differently from other platform of similar concept, Centauro employs customized actuation units, which provide high torque outputs, moderately fast motions, and the possibility to control the exerted torque. Moreover, with more than forty motors moving its limbs, Centauro is a very redundant platform, with the potential to execute many different tasks at the same time. This thesis deals with the design and development of a software architecture, and a control system, tailored to such a robot; both wheeled and legged locomotion strategies have been studied, as well as prioritized, whole-body and interaction controllers exploiting the robot torque control capabilities, and capable to handle the system redundancy. A novel software architecture, made of (i) a real-time robotic middleware, and (ii) a framework for online, prioritized Cartesian controller, forms the basis of the entire work

Activities of the Center for Space Construction

The Center for Space Construction (CSC) at the University of Colorado at Boulder is one of eight University Space Engineering Research Centers established by NASA in 1988. The mission of the center is to conduct research into space technology and to directly contribute to space engineering education. The center reports to the Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences and resides in the College of Engineering and Applied Science. The college has a long and successful track record of cultivating multi-disciplinary research and education programs. The Center for Space Construction is prominent evidence of this record. At the inception of CSC, the center was primarily founded on the need for research on in-space construction of large space systems like space stations and interplanetary space vehicles. The scope of CSC's research has now evolved to include the design and construction of all spacecraft, large and small. Within this broadened scope, our research projects seek to impact the underlying technological basis for such spacecraft as remote sensing satellites, communication satellites, and other special purpose spacecraft, as well as the technological basis for large space platforms. The center's research focuses on three areas: spacecraft structures, spacecraft operations and control, and regolith and surface systems. In the area of spacecraft structures, our current emphasis is on concepts and modeling of deployable structures, analysis of inflatable structures, structural damage detection algorithms, and composite materials for lightweight structures. In the area of spacecraft operations and control, we are continuing our previous efforts in process control of in-orbit structural assembly. In addition, we have begun two new efforts in formal approach to spacecraft flight software systems design and adaptive attitude control systems. In the area of regolith and surface systems, we are continuing the work of characterizing the physical properties of lunar regolith, and we are at work on a project on path planning for planetary surface rovers

Versatile Multi-Contact Planning and Control for Legged Loco-Manipulation

Loco-manipulation planning skills are pivotal for expanding the utility of robots in everyday environments. These skills can be assessed based on a system's ability to coordinate complex holistic movements and multiple contact interactions when solving different tasks. However, existing approaches have been merely able to shape such behaviors with hand-crafted state machines, densely engineered rewards, or pre-recorded expert demonstrations. Here, we propose a minimally-guided framework that automatically discovers whole-body trajectories jointly with contact schedules for solving general loco-manipulation tasks in pre-modeled environments. The key insight is that multi-modal problems of this nature can be formulated and treated within the context of integrated Task and Motion Planning (TAMP). An effective bilevel search strategy is achieved by incorporating domain-specific rules and adequately combining the strengths of different planning techniques: trajectory optimization and informed graph search coupled with sampling-based planning. We showcase emergent behaviors for a quadrupedal mobile manipulator exploiting both prehensile and non-prehensile interactions to perform real-world tasks such as opening/closing heavy dishwashers and traversing spring-loaded doors. These behaviors are also deployed on the real system using a two-layer whole-body tracking controller

Graphical modelling of modular machines

This research is aimed at advancing machine design through specifying and implementing (in "proof of concept" form) a set of tools which graphically model modular machines. The tools allow mechanical building elements (or machine modules) to be selected and configured together in a highly flexible manner so that operation of the chosen configuration can be simulated and performance properties evaluated. Implementation of the tools has involved an extension in capability of a proprietary robot simulation system. This research has resulted in a general approach to graphically modelling manufacturing machines built from modular elements. A focus of study has been on a decomposition of machine functionality leading to the establishment of a library of modular machine primitives. This provides a useful source of commonly required machine building elements for use by machine designers. Study has also focussed on the generation of machine configuration tools which facilitate the construction of a simulation model and ultimately the physical machine itself. Simulation aspects of machine control are also considered which depict methods of manipulating a machine model in the simulation phase. In addition methods of achieving machine programming have been considered which specify the machine and its operational tasks. Means of adopting common information data structures are also considered which can facilitate interfacing with other systems, including the physical machine system constructed as an issue of the simulation phase. Each of these study areas is addressed in its own context, but collectively they provide a means of creating a complete modular machine design environment which can provide significant assistance to machine designers. Part of the methodology employed in the study is based on the use of the discrete event simulation technique. To easily and effectively describe a modular machine and its activity in a simulation model, a hierarchical ring and tree data structure has been designed and implemented. The modularity and reconfigurability are accommodated by the data structure, and homogeneous transformations are adopted to determine the spatial location and orientation of each of the machine elements. A three-level machine task programming approach is used to describe the machine's activities. A common data format method is used to interface the machine design environment with the physical machine and other building blocks of manufacturing systems (such as CAD systems) where systems integration approaches can lead to enhanced product realisation. The study concludes that a modular machine design environment can be created by employing the graphical simulation approach together with a set of comprehensive configuration. tools. A generic framework has been derived which outlines the way in which machine design environments can be constructed and suggestions are made as to how the proof of concept design environment implemented in this study can be advanced