DEVELOPMENT OF A VISUAL LANGUAGE TELEROBOTIC OPERATOR INTERFACE FOR RAPID IMPLEMENTATION OF AUTONOMOUS TASKS

AS NASA EXPANDS ITS SPACE CONSTRUCTION AND SATELLITE SERVICING ACTIVITIES, MACHINES THAT CAN PERFORM HUMAN MANIPULATION WITHOUT THE ACTUAL PRESENCE OF AN ASTRONAUT ARE BECOMING NECESSARY. ON EARTH, MANIPULATORS HAVE BEEN USED FOR YEARS TO ACCOMPLISH COMPLEX TASKS UNDER TELEOPERATORED CONTROL. TO PROVIDE ADVANCED MANIPULATION FOR SPACE, WE MUST MOVE FORWARD BY INCORPORATING THE HUMAN THOUGHT PROCESS INTO THE AUTONOMOUS PROCEDURES USED BY ROBOTIC SYSTEMS. THIS PROPOSAL ADDRESSES THE OPPORTUNITY FOR USING VISUAL LANGUAGE COMMUNICATIONS PROTOCOL TO PROTOTYPE, MAINTAIN, AND ENHANCE THE INTERFACE BETWEEN THE HUMAN OPERATOR, THE MANIPULATOR, AND ADVANCED SENSORY SYSTEMS. THIS VISUAL LANGUAGE WILL ALLOW THE RAPID PROTOTYPING AND INTEGRATION OF MANIPULATION, SENSORS, AND DECISION MAKING CAPABILITIES BY SIMPLY CREATING A FLOWCHART OF THE ACTIVITIES AND THE DECISION PROCESS-THE INTEGRATED SOFTWARE SYSTEM ACCOMPLISHESTHE REST BY WRITING CODED INSTRUCTIONS. THIS WOULD BE A SIGNIFICANT ADVANCEMENT TO THE PRESENT IMPLEMENTATION OF NASREM. THE PURPOSE OF THIS PHASE I EFFORT IS TO LEVERAGE FROM THIS COMPANY'S PREVIOUS VISUAL LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENTS INCLUDING THE DEMONSTRATED ABILITY TO CONTROL MULTIPLE MANIPULATOR ARMS. THE TECHNOLOGY WILL INCORPORATE SENSORY SYSTEMS TO AID IN THE AUTONOMOUS DECISION MAKING FOR TELEROBOTIC APPLICATIONS.