Enhanced Ground Control for ISS Robotics

Investigate and adapt aides which will increase the efficiency of ISS robotics ground control operations. Initially focus on providing relative position feedback to the operator during close-proximity operations, like grasping a robotic interface for example, since this type of operation is one of the most inefficient from a ground-operator perspective. Will benefit ISS operations and provide a testbed for future telerobotic exploration systems that will save time for both the crew and the ground. This project will investigate and adapt aides which will increase the efficiency of ISS robotics ground control operations with the intent of creating more opportunities for ground-controlled robotic operations. The selection and adaption of an aide will initially focus on providing relative position feedback to the operator during close-proximity operations, like grasping a robotic interface for example, since this type of operation is one of the most inefficient from a ground-operator perspective. This is to be a video-based system using Natural Feature Image Recognition (NFIR). The intent is to eventually use the same information to generate commands within the command system. This will benefit ISS operations and provide a testbed for future telerobotic exploration systems that will save time for both the crew and the ground. More »