Robonauts for Space Mission: A Glimpse into the Future

The Robotics Technology Branch at the NASA Johnson Space Center had developed robotic systems to assist astronauts in space. One such system, Robonaut, is a humanoid robot with the dexterity approaching that of a suited astronaut. NASA's Robonaut had two dexterous arms and hands, a three degree-of-freedom articulating waist, and a two-degree-of-freedom neck used as a camera and sensor platform. In contrast to other space manipulator systems, Robonaut is designed to work within existing corridors and use the same tools as spacewalking astronauts. Robonaut is envisioned as working with astronauts, both autonomously and by teleoperation, performing a variety of tasks including, routine maintenance, setting up and breaking down work sites, assisting crew members while outside of spacecraft, and serving in rapid response capacity.

Robonaut uses several novel techniques for establishing remote control of its subsystems and enabling the human operator to maintain situational awareness.

Telepresence in Space

Telepresence requires that a human operator control the actions of a remotely operated robot. In the case of the Robonaut project, the human operator must control forty-three individual degrees of freedom. The use of three-axis hand controllers would present a formidable task for the operator. Because Robonaut is anthropomorphic, the logical method of control is one of a master-slave relationship whereby the operator's motions are essentially mimicked by the robot. The operator performs the arm, head, and hand motions for the required tasks, and a master-slave control mechanism duplicate the same motions in the Robot. The goal of telepresence control is to provide an intuitive, unobtrusive, accurate, and low-cost method for tracking operator motions and communicating them to the robotic system. Some of the component technologies used in Robonaut's telepresence system include Helmet Mounted Displays (HMD), force and tactile feedback gloves, and posture trackers.

Telepresence uses virtual reality display technology to visually immerse the operator in the robot's workspace. This way the teleoperator feels as if he or she is in the place of the robot. Visual feedback is provided by a stereo display helmet and includes live video from Robonaut's head cameras. The HMD provides a view into the robot's environment, facilitating intuitive operation and natural interaction with the worksite. To be an effective tool for the robonaut project, the HMD must take into account image registration (stereo or bi-ocular view), field-of-view (FOV), graphical overlay capabilities, and speech recognition capabilities.

From Japan and Beyond

As Japan's second female astronaut to fly up in the Space Shuttle Discovery, Naoko Yamazaki didn't expect to spend a quarter of her time dusting, feeding mice, and doing other menial jobs.

It can cost more than US$430 million a year to keep an astronaut in orbit, according to a three-year-old startup called Gitai Inc. It's only possible to keep humans alive in outer space because of the money and effort poured into ensuring their safety. One way to bring down the cost and risks is to send an avatar — a remotely controlled robot.

"There's a need for robots that can help us," Yamazaki, 49, said. "Eventually, we should be able to do those tasks remotely or have them take over altogether."

According to Bloomberg report, as NASA opens up the International Space Station to private businesses and embarks on the Artemis mission to send astronauts back to the moon, there's a growing recognition of the need to keep spending under control, even as space-exploration projects grow increasingly complex.

That's where avatar technologies come in. As a drone pilot, an operator equipped with wraparound screens or a virtual-reality headset will be able to move mechanical arms or an entire robot from far away. The building blocks already exist; the trick is to bring them together with software to make it all work. That's one reason why the space robotics market is projected to reach US$4.4 billion by 2023.

"Avatar technologies will advance our opportunity for research in space tremendously," says Anousheh Ansari, the first Muslim woman to go into space. With the right technologies, "we can actually have the best of both worlds" of robots and human curiosity, intelligence, and interactivity, she said.

Sho Nakanose, chief executive officer of Tokyo- and San Francisco-based Gitai, is betting he has the right solution. He's developing a robonaut that can be operated from Earth, handling tasks that normally would require an astronaut to go into space.

"We'll see an era in which humans will be working in space, not just going to space," Nakanose said. "We want our robots to create bases for Blue Origin and SpaceX."