GLOBAL-LOCAL ENVIRONMENT TELEROBOTIC SIMULATOR

TO REDUCE THE FREQUENCY OF POTENTIALLY UNPRODUCTIVE AND DANGEROUS EXTRAVEHICULAR ACTIVITIES BY SPACE STATION ASTRONAUTS, NASA WILL NEED TELEROBOTIC AND AUTONOMOUS ROBOTIC SYSTEMS. BECAUSE AUTONOMOUS ROBOTS ARE FAR BEYOND THE STATE-OF-THE-ART IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND COMPUTERVISION, NASA MUST USE TELEROBOTIC SYSTEMS. SUCH SYSTEMS EMPLOY GROUND-BASED AND SPACE STATION-BASED HUMAN OPERATORS TO CONTROL REMOVE ROBOTIC MANIPULATORS. PASE EXPERIENCE SHOWS THAT TELEOPERATION IS A DEMANDING TASK WHICH REQUIRE THE OPERATOR TO MAINTAIN AN ACCURATE MENTAL MODEL OF THE LOCAL ENVIRONMENT OF THE MANIPULATOR, EVEN IN ADVERSE LIGHTING AND SENSORY CONDITIONS. TO SIMPLIFY TELEOPERATION KMSF WILL DESIGN A GLOBAL-LOCAL ENVIRONMENT TELEROBOTIC SIMULATOR (GLETS) THAT WILL - SIMULATE THE REMOTE MANIPULATOR AND ITS LOCAL ENVIRONMENT,- CONTINUALLY UPDATE THE SIMULATED ENVIRONMENT USING REMOTE SENSORS, - DISPLAY THE SIMULATED ENVIRONMENT WITH RICH VISUAL AND AUDIO CUES THAT CAN BE EASILY INTERPRETED BY THE OPERATOR, - USE CAD/CAM DATABASES FOR THE SIMULATED ROBOT ENVIRONMENT AND ROBOT DESCRIPTIONS, - PROVIDE A FLEXIBLE SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE THAT IS EASILY MODIFIED AND EXTENDED, AND - ADHERE TO THE NASREM STANDARD FOR TELEROBOTIC CONTROL TO ALLOW EASY INTEGRATION OF GLETS INTO NASA'S TELEROBOTIC PROGRAM.