Space Test of Sensor-Fused Telerobotics for High-Precision Tasks

摘要

An evaluation of the world's first precise extravehicular robot boarded on the Engineering Test Satellite-VII is presented. The concept of sensor-fused telerobotics that has the dual-loop structures of multisensory autonomous control and active sensing of work environment was applied to perform high-precision tasks under the space specific conditions of low-bandwidth communication link, time delay, work-environment uncertainties, and insufficient visibility from onboard cameras. The robotic system features dexterity, autonomy, and telesensing capability using a three-finger multisensory hand at a work site in space and flexible operability using a computer-graphics-based human/robot interface with a virtual hypercamera at an operation site on the ground. The robot was operated for two years, and the sensor-fused telerobotics technology was demonstrated to be applicable in space.