Collaborative Research: Teleautonomy in Networked Robotic Systems

该项目将解决各种机器人控制和网络问题之间的相互作用，重点关注远程自治问题。该研究解决了人工干预最少的远程装配和直接远程操作的问题。本文所描述的（半）自主和远程操作系统对于实现组装和操作空间太阳能（SSP）系统的目标至关重要。对于地球轨道上的系统和多个联网机器人系统的人类协调，直接遥操作是一个可行的和有吸引力的选择，而更大的自主权对于更远程的装配系统至关重要，如月球系统，较长的时间延迟使得直接遥操作变得困难。由于控制这些系统的通信网络可能不可靠，因此还需要相当程度的自治，即本地情报。目前的研究旨在将机器人控制算法与通信网络研究结合起来，以及与投射和放大人类能力相关的问题，以促进空间结构中的组装。技术问题包括双边远程操作、通信链路的可靠性和复杂装配任务的协调。将研究基于无源的非线性控制和基于逻辑的切换控制的双边遥操作。将研究通信链路的可靠性，以减轻未知和时变延迟的影响，并结合网络控制系统（NCS）的最新想法。最后，我们将使用统计学习理论中的概念来研究协调问题，这些理论借鉴并概括了互联网协议的思想。更广泛地说，这项研究将在远程自主机器人系统之外有重要的应用。我们希望为不断增长的网络控制系统领域做出贡献，将我们的研究纳入危险和远程环境控制，监视，搜索和救援机器人，自主车辆和自主运动系统，触觉设备，远程施工和远程手术等领域。

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.