PRIOR TO HUMAN ARRIVAL, LUNAR ROBOTS WILL CONDUCT A VARIETY OF PRECURSOR OPERATIONS. SOME OF THESE WILL NEE…

Public award description

PRIOR TO HUMAN ARRIVAL, LUNAR ROBOTS WILL CONDUCT A VARIETY OF PRECURSOR OPERATIONS. SOME OF THESE WILL NEED SUPERVISION FROM EARTH. AFTER HUMANS ARRIVE, ROBOTS WILL CONTINUE TO FOLLOW A MIX OF AUTONOMY, LOCAL CONTROL, AND GROUND CONTROL. FOR BEST UTILITY, A STRONG MODEL IS NEEDED OF THE EXPECTED RESPONSES OF THE ROBOTS TO VARIOUS COMMANDS. SUCH A MODEL ENABLES PROCEDURE AUTHORS TO VERIFY EXPECTED OUTCOMES, ENHANCES SITUATIONAL AWARENESS FOR REMOTE OPERATORS IN THE PRESENCE OF TIME DELAY, AND PROVIDES A MECHANISM FOR PLANNING. WE PROPOSE A SIMULATION MODULE FOR ASSISTING AN OPERATOR ACROSS A TIME DELAY. THE PROPOSED INNOVATION IS A HYBRID SIMULATION MODULE TO REPLACE THE CURRENT "BEHAVIORAL SIM" IN JSC'S PREDICTIVE INTERACTIVE GRAPHICAL INTERFACE (PIGI). PIGI HELPS AN OPERATOR COMPENSATE FOR LUNAR-SCALE TIME DELAY, AND IS PART OF NASA'S "RAPID WORKBENCH". THE BEHAVIORAL SIM ACTS AS AN ORACLE, TAKING INITIAL CONDITIONS AND A SEQUENCE OF COMMANDS AND PRODUCING TRAJECTORIES AND EXPECTED FINAL LOCATION OF THE ROBOT. WE PROPOSE TO PROVIDE FUNCTIONALITY TO (1) KEEP AND REASON ABOUT THE ROBOT'S INTERNAL STATE; (2) MODEL RELEVANT ASPECTS OF THE ROBOT'S WORKSPACE; (3) REASON AT A HIGH LEVEL ABOUT MANIPULATION; AND (4) MODEL THE UNCERTAINTY CONE OF THE PREDICTIONS.