NRI: Human-Robot Interface for Extraterrestrial Construction

Texas A&M University, College Station TX

Investigators

Abstract

Extraterrestrial construction, construction of structures on the surface of the Moon or planetary bodies, is an essential but challenging task. While it is anticipated that such structures will eventually be produced by fully autonomous construction systems, a human-in-the-loop robotic system is a more attainable intermediate objective for extraterrestrial construction in the intermediate term. This National Robotics Initiative 3.0 (NRI) award supports fundamental research to leverage the intelligence and capabilities of astronauts in a human-centric robotic system for extraterrestrial construction by providing human-robot interaction that offers stable, transparent, and accurate telerobotic control. The findings from this project have important implications for extraterrestrial construction that are essential for a long-term human presence off-Earth, and particularly on the Moon. Virtual robotic system design and space mission simulations will also be employed in a STEM outreach program to motivate young students by teaching them about space exploration. This research will advance fundamental knowledge of astronaut-robot interaction, including how human sensory degradation in space and signal time delay/visual ambiguity interact to influence teleoperation task performance, how modulations of sensory feedback display dimensions are perceived, and how to most effectively map sensed data to enhance situational awareness and improved teleoperation performance. The first task documents the human, task, technological, and environmental features in space teleoperation for extraterrestrial construction. The second task develops virtual robotic simulation models for space teleoperation in the context of extraterrestrial construction. The third task develops and tests sensory assistance technologies in supporting extraterrestrial construction operations and determines the effects of latency and depth ambiguity on teleoperation performance and explores novel forms of sensory assistance feedback to enhance task performance. Finally, the research team tests sensory assistance in robotic simulation of extraterrestrial construction in increasingly realistic robotic scenarios that replicate aspects of the altered environment and manipulate variables that represent specific challenges for human-telerobotic construction systems. By enhancing the understanding of human-robot interface design for variable and dynamic delay contexts and visual ambiguity, generalizable strategies of interface design can be developed for a number of future space work domains involving human-in-the-loop operation of extraterrestrial robots. A team of space engineers including former astronauts and professionals from industry partners with experience in space telerobotic operations will be engaged in the design and evaluation of the system. Virtual Reality robotic system design and space mission simulation will be incorporated into a STEM outreach program to teach young students about space and exploration and research methods and results of the project will be integrated in an interdepartmental and interdisciplinary "Human-robot Interface for Future Space Work Domains" curriculum. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.