Tele-manipulation of a satellite mounted robot by an on-ground astronaut

Abstract

An experiment to teleoperate a robot arm on a satellite from an onground control station was conducted by an astronaut who has extensive on-orbit experience in operating the Space Shuttle's robotic arm. This experiment aimed to evaluate/compare a teleoperation system, which we developed, with the teleoperation system of the Space Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS). There was a time delay of about 6 seconds in the teleoperation control loop of the satellite-mounted robot. However, the teleoperation experiments were satisfactory conducted with helps of various operator assistance functions.