1 / 25

Integrated Astronaut Control System for EVA

Penn State Mars Society RASC-AL 2003 Integrated Astronaut Control System for EVA Problem Statement Future of space exploration: manned missions to Mars Exploration issues Long time delay from Earth EVAs far from home base These issues never previously encountered fully

Mia_John
Download Presentation

Integrated Astronaut Control System for EVA

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Penn State Mars Society RASC-AL 2003 Integrated Astronaut Control System for EVA

  2. Problem Statement • Future of space exploration: manned missions to Mars • Exploration issues • Long time delay from Earth • EVAs far from home base • These issues never previously encountered fully

  3. Exploration Applications • Soil and rock samples • Surveying the Martian terrain • Scientific observation

  4. Spacesuit • Bulkiness makes mobility difficult • Lack of flexibility • Gloves • Hand fatigue • Difficult to grasp objects • Solution: Rover accompanies astronaut

  5. Rover Assisted Exploration • Rovers: tried and true Martian explorers • Useful toolkit for astronauts on EVAs • On-site rover control by astronauts • Variety of rover control systems • Joystick • Trackball • VR glove

  6. Rover Control • Past: Control from Earth • Supercomputers • Delay due to transmission over large distance • Joystick control • Future: On-site control by astronaut • Joystick and trackball not practical • VR Glove

  7. Design Requirements • Fine-tuned control • No overlap between commands • Efficient response to commands • Simplicity and ease of training • Transmission efficiency (range and power) • Multitasking

  8. Virtual Reality Gloves • Simulates the environment for practical purposes • Flight training • Education • Capabilities • Six degrees of freedom • Many more states than conventional controllers • Feedback Data

  9. Integration into the Spacesuit • Characteristics: • Mobility & Flexibility • Robust Function • Simple & Reliable • VR Glove is small • Lightweight • Thin fibers • Best Place to Install: • Max. sensitivity to hand motions • Between first and second layers

  10. Our Solution • 5DT Data Glove • ActivMedia Pioneer 2-AT rover • SmileCam camera • Steering and camera control by VR glove

  11. Project Timeline

  12. Gesture Control System • Data Input and Filtering • Gesture Recognition • State Selection • Device-Specific Output

  13. Data Input and Filtering • Independent Input and Filter per hand • Raw glove data calibrated to user's range of motion • Exponential filter to smooth noisy data • Muscle Twinges • Cardiovascular pulses

  14. Gesture Recognition • Hand sensor readings • 7.2e16 possible combinations! • Effect of finger dependencies with imprecise control: Not this many are realistic • Continuous Control: Mealy Model • Discrete Control: Moore Model • Hybrid Control

  15. State Selection • Each hand operates independently • Certain states locked out to other hand • Root state allows external operation

  16. Device-Specific Output • Translates gesture state into reasonable device output • Models exist for pan/tilt cameras, motion bases, and external microcontrollers

  17. Player/Stage • Player: Robot device server • Abstracts device specifics from control class • Designed for networked operation from any language that supports TCP/IP • Stage: Simulator for Player controllers • Provides simulated environment for controller development • Utilizes same binary interface as Player

  18. Rover Navigation • Uses Player's PositionDevice class • Translates glove finger position and roll into rotational and translational velocities

  19. Target Selection • Translates glove gestures to control PanTilt device class • Manages selection of interesting targets

  20. A Brief Demonstration

  21. Testing Obstacle Course requires: 1. Figure Eight 2. Arcing Turn 3. Reverse 4. Slalom Three Input Devices: Glove Joystick Trackball

  22. Course Results • User B has more training than User A • Joystick is the fastest method • Trackball is significantly slower

  23. Results Analysis • Results analyzed in the context of remote operations • Joystick is faster, but the glove has other advantages

  24. Future Developments • Touch Sensors • Force Feedback • More useful user feedback • Menuing • Sounds • Force Feedback • Autonomy in Tracking and Navigation

  25. Questions

More Related