Collaborative Research: Teleautonomy in Networked Robotic Systems

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This project will address the interplay among various robotic control and networking problems focusing on the issue of teleautonomy. The research addresses both the problems of remote assembly with minimal human intervention and direct teleoperation. Both (semi-)autonomous and teleoperated systems as described herein will be important to realize the goal of assembling and operating Space Solar Power (SSP) systems. For systems in earth orbit and for human coordination of multiple networked robotic systems, direct teleoperation is a viable and attractive option, while greater autonomy is crucial for more remote assembly systems, such as lunar based systems where longer time delays make direct teleoperation difficult. A significant level of autonomy, i.e. local intelligence, will also be required due to the possibly unreliable communication networks over which these systems will be controlled.The present research seeks to integrate robotic control algorithms with communication networking research, along with issues associated with projecting and magnifying human capabilities to facilitate assembly in space structures. The technical issues include bilateral teleoperation, the reliability of the communications links, and the coordination of complex assembly tasks. Bilateral teleoperation will be studied using passivity-based nonlinear control along with logic-based switching control. The reliability of the communication links will be studied to mitigate the effects of unknown and time-varying delays and to incorporate recent ideas from networked control systems (NCS). Finally the issue of coordination will be studied using concepts from statistical learning theory that borrow and generalize ideas from Internet protocols.More broadly, this research will have important applications beyond teleautonomous robotic systems. We expect to contribute to the growing area of networked control systems, to incorporate our research in areas such as control in hazardous and remote environments, surveillance, search and rescue robots, autonomous vehicles and autonomous locomotion systems, haptic devices, remote construction, and remote surgery.