Adaptive Bioassistive and Telerobotic Devices for Human-Robotic Systems

CU Aerospace and team partner, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, propose to perform innovative research and development that targets the design and control of adaptive bioassistive and telerobotic devices - ABATRODs - that augment normal musculoskeletal function in rapidly changing and disruptive environments while providing predictable response. ABATRODs accommodate fast changes in environment while actively shaping the response to muscle actuation to that anticipated by the operator, allowing the operator to maintain focus on task objectives. The ABATROD architecture uses principles of L1 adaptive control to decouple the task of adaptation and environmental uncertainty from the operator perceived response, thereby enabling the design of a range of apparently nonintrusive augmenting and telerobotic device technologies. The L1 paradigm significantly widens the domain of safe operation within which operator-induced instability can be eliminated without tuning. This effort makes innovative contributions to NASA-relevant space exploration tasks: (i) sustained and accurate manipulation of physical control interfaces on machinery and vehicles by an operator on a shaking space vehicle or rover, (ii) the stable and coordinated handling of scientific or photographic hardware by an astronaut during ambulation across uneven terrain, and (iii) the precise and reliable control of telerobotic devices for robotic-EVAs in unpredictable conditions.