TOWARD INTELLIGENT CONTROL OF ROBOTICS FOR SPACE STATION MAINTENANCE

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO SHOW THE FEASIBILITY OF ADDING LEARNING, PLANNING, AND REASONING TO TELEROBOTS FOR SPACE APPLICATIONS. THE IDEA IS TO HAVE TELEROBOTS THAT HAVE ENOUGH REASONING POWERS SO THAT EACH INDIVIDUAL MOVEMENT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE TOLD TO IT. THE AREA OF SPACE STATION MAINTENANCE IS OUR FOCUS. OUR PLAN IS TO BUILD ON OUR PREVIOUS RESEARCH WHICH WAS DONE WITH THE NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS. THAT WORK INVOLVED A ROBOT WITH INTELLIGENCE ADDED. THE TASK WE USED ON THAT VERY BASIC RESEARCH WAS TO HAVE A ROBOT RECOGNIZE LETTERED BLOCKSAND THEN ORGANIZE THEM IN ORDER TO SPELL CERTAIN WORDS. WE SHOWED DURING THAT RESEARCH THAT WE COULD BUILD A MODEL THATCOULD LEARN. FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN THE ROBOT HAD TO SPELL A WORD IT FIRST SEARCHED ITS MEMORY TO SEE IF IT SPELLED THAT WORD PREVIOUSLY. IF IT HAD NOT SPELLED THAT WORD, THENIT HAD A HIERARCHY OF DECISIONS: I.E., FIRST VISUAL SEARCHING, THEN REACH, THEN ROTATION, ETC. FOR THIS PROJECT WE WOULD LIKE TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP AND SHOW THE FEASIBILITY OF SUCH A SYSTEM FOR SPACE STATION ROBOTIC INSPECTION AND MAINTENANCE. AT THE END OF PHASE I WE WOULD DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF THESE CONCEPTS.