Search NASA⌕ Search
Home/Archive/NASA NTRS

NASA NTRS · 20180003326

Astrobee: A New Tool for ISS Operations

Bualat, Maria G.·Smith, Trey·Fong, Terrence W.·Smith, Ernest E.·Wheeler, D. W.
View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Astrobee is a new class of free-flying robots that operate in the interior of the International Space Station (ISS). In addition to providing a research platform for zero-g free-flying robotics (replacing the Synchronized Position Hold Engage and Reorient Experimental Satellites (SPHERES)), Astrobee improves the efficiency of ISS operations by providing flight and payload controllers with a mobile camera/sensor platform. The Astrobee system consists of three robots, a docking station, and a ground data system. Development began in late 2014, and Astrobee will launch to ISS in late 2018. This paper provides an overview of the capabilities of the Astrobee system, the concept of operations for ISS operations support, and the challenges of operating a free-flying robot within the constraints of the ISS environment.

Explore related subjects

AstrobeeISSfree flyer

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Bualat, Maria G., Smith, Trey, Fong, Terrence W., Smith, Ernest E., Wheeler, D. W.. 2018-05-28. Astrobee: A New Tool for ISS Operations. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20180003326

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related reports

NASA NTRS2020

Kibo Robot Programming Challenge Final Activity Report

On October 8th, 2020 the Kibo Robot Programming Challenge (RPC) Finals Event took place. Student teams from Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and UAE were the finalists of the competition and became the first students to ever upload APKs to an Astrobee robot (Bumble) on the ISS. This was the culmination of a joint effort between JAXA’s Int-Ball developing team in Tsukuba, Japan and NASA’s Astrobee Facility team at NASA Ames Research Center\ in California, USA. The collaboration between JAXA and NASA started in late 2017. Throughout this time mutual visits by the engineering and management teams were organized. In July 2019 the Kibo RPC concept was formally defined and the competition started. Hundreds of students across the Asia Pacific region participated and during the final event they did so in real time with the participation of NASA’s astronaut, Chris Cassidy. Chris interacted with the students, JAXA personnel and with the robot during the activity. This report aims to summarize the lessons learned from the several crew and non-crew tended activities, the evaluations performed on ground, the coordination of resources both in the ground and at the International Space Station (ISS) as well as operations. It identifies the issues the teams faced and the solutions put in place to mitigate them.

Astrobee↗