<title>ROTEX: space telerobotic flight experiment</title>

Abstract

In early 1993 the space robot technology experiment ROTEX flew with the space-shuttle Columbia (spacelab mission D2 on flight STS-55 from April 26 to May 6). A multisensory robot on board the space-craft successfully worked in autonomous modes, teleoperated by astronauts, as well as in different telerobotic ground control modes. These include on-line teleoperation and tele-sensor-programming, a task-level oriented programming technique involving `learning by showing' concepts in a virtual environment. The robot's key features were its multisensory gripper and the local sensory feedback schemes which are the basis for shared autonomy. The corresponding man-machine interface concepts using a 6 dof non-force- reflecting control ball and visual feedback to the human operator are explained. Stereographic simulation on ground was used to predict not only the robot's free motion but even the sensor based path refinement on board; prototype tasks performed by this space robot were the assembly of a truss structure, connecting/disconnecting an electric plug (orbit replaceable unit exchange ORU), and grasping free-floating objects.