NRI: Human-Robot Interface for Extraterrestrial Construction

地外建筑，即在月球或行星表面建造结构，是一项必不可少但具有挑战性的任务。 虽然预计这种结构最终将由完全自主的建筑系统生产，但人类在回路中的机器人系统是中期外星建筑更容易实现的中期目标。这个国家机器人计划3.0（NRI）奖支持基础研究，以利用宇航员在以人为中心的机器人系统中的智能和能力，通过提供稳定，透明和准确的远程机器人控制的人机交互来进行外星建设。该项目的发现对外星建筑具有重要意义，这对于人类在地球外，特别是在月球上的长期存在至关重要。虚拟机器人系统设计和空间使命模拟也将用于STEM推广计划，通过教授年轻学生空间探索知识来激励他们。这项研究将推进机器人与机器人交互的基础知识，包括人类在空间中的感觉退化和信号时间延迟/视觉模糊性如何相互作用以影响遥操作任务性能，感觉反馈显示维度的调制如何被感知，以及如何最有效地映射感知数据以增强态势感知和改善遥操作性能。第一个任务文件的人，任务，技术和环境的特点，在空间遥操作的外星建设。第二项任务是在地外建筑的背景下开发用于空间遥操作的虚拟机器人仿真模型。第三项任务是开发和测试感官辅助技术，以支持外星建筑作业，并确定延迟和深度模糊对遥操作性能的影响，并探索新形式的感官辅助反馈，以提高任务性能。最后，研究小组在越来越逼真的机器人场景中测试了机器人模拟外星建筑的感官辅助，这些场景复制了改变后的环境的各个方面，并操纵了代表人类远程机器人建筑系统特定挑战的变量。通过加强对可变和动态延迟上下文和视觉模糊的人机界面设计的理解，可以为未来涉及人在环操作的外星机器人的空间工作领域开发界面设计的可推广策略。 一个空间工程师小组，包括前宇航员和来自行业伙伴的具有空间遥控机器人操作经验的专业人员，将参与该系统的设计和评估。 虚拟现实机器人系统设计和空间使命模拟将被纳入STEM推广计划，以向年轻学生传授空间和探索知识，该项目的研究方法和结果将被纳入跨部门和跨学科的“未来空间工作领域的人机界面”该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查评估的支持的搜索.

Extraterrestrial construction, construction of structures on the surface of the Moon or planetary bodies, is an essential but challenging task. While it is anticipated that such structures will eventually be produced by fully autonomous construction systems, a human-in-the-loop robotic system is a more attainable intermediate objective for extraterrestrial construction in the intermediate term. This National Robotics Initiative 3.0 (NRI) award supports fundamental research to leverage the intelligence and capabilities of astronauts in a human-centric robotic system for extraterrestrial construction by providing human-robot interaction that offers stable, transparent, and accurate telerobotic control. The findings from this project have important implications for extraterrestrial construction that are essential for a long-term human presence off-Earth, and particularly on the Moon. Virtual robotic system design and space mission simulations will also be employed in a STEM outreach program to motivate young students by teaching them about space exploration. This research will advance fundamental knowledge of astronaut-robot interaction, including how human sensory degradation in space and signal time delay/visual ambiguity interact to influence teleoperation task performance, how modulations of sensory feedback display dimensions are perceived, and how to most effectively map sensed data to enhance situational awareness and improved teleoperation performance. The first task documents the human, task, technological, and environmental features in space teleoperation for extraterrestrial construction. The second task develops virtual robotic simulation models for space teleoperation in the context of extraterrestrial construction. The third task develops and tests sensory assistance technologies in supporting extraterrestrial construction operations and determines the effects of latency and depth ambiguity on teleoperation performance and explores novel forms of sensory assistance feedback to enhance task performance. Finally, the research team tests sensory assistance in robotic simulation of extraterrestrial construction in increasingly realistic robotic scenarios that replicate aspects of the altered environment and manipulate variables that represent specific challenges for human-telerobotic construction systems. By enhancing the understanding of human-robot interface design for variable and dynamic delay contexts and visual ambiguity, generalizable strategies of interface design can be developed for a number of future space work domains involving human-in-the-loop operation of extraterrestrial robots. A team of space engineers including former astronauts and professionals from industry partners with experience in space telerobotic operations will be engaged in the design and evaluation of the system. Virtual Reality robotic system design and space mission simulation will be incorporated into a STEM outreach program to teach young students about space and exploration and research methods and results of the project will be integrated in an interdepartmental and interdisciplinary "Human-robot Interface for Future Space Work Domains" curriculum.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.