Safe Persistent Operations with Cobots in Space (SPOCS)

Motiv Space Systems (Motiv) presents a concept for Safe Persistent Operations with Cobots in Space (SPOCS), addressing codesign and development of an autonomous collaborative space robot system for operations in persistent platform interiors. In order for a persistent space platform to sustain persistent operations, its autonomous systems must maintain safe operational condition over substantial periods of time. Beyond a condition of safe operation, autonomous robotic systems in particular must safely operate with neither self-damage nor damage to assets within the persistent platform. This applies during periods of human crew occupation and periods when only robots and other non-embodied autonomous systems are at work in persistent platforms. This is noteworthy, as it is expected that NASA’s lunar orbiting facility, Gateway, may have no crew onboard during most of a given year with crew occupying the station for only weeks at a time. Envisioned habitable elements, such as the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) and the International Habitation (I-HAB) module, will enable crew stays around the moon for at least a month. The expectation of intermittent crew occupation holds as well for Artemis lunar surface habitats and eventual Mars habitats. In the case of robots as embodied autonomous systems operating within persistent platforms such as orbital stations and surface habitats, this can be facilitated via a priori codesign considering features of the habitat, the robot design, and autonomy that synergistically manifest in the form of intelligent motion planning and control capabilities – all as an integrated solution. This SPOCS efforts will contribute to enhancing the safety of intravehicular robotics, for which the SOA platforms are represented by NASA's Astrobee free-flying robot and humanoid robots Robonaut 2 and Valkyrie. And it will complement those systems via broader availability of space collaborative robots and codesigned human-aware subsystems.