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I will be speaking on a panel about Human-Robot Interaction for Space Station for the Space Center Houston Thought Leader Series. I will discuss Astrobee HRI and 2 precursor projects: SmartSPHERES and Surface Telerobotics and how they led to the design of Astrobee's interaction.
This paper analyzes Wi-Fi signal propagation inside pressurized modules of the International Space Station (ISS). Various flight datasets were collected by the Astrobee fleet of autonomous free-flying robots developed by the NASA Ames Research Center (ARC). The enclosed module spaces of the ISS pose unique challenges for Wi-Fi signal propagation, and understanding these challenges is crucial for optimizing connectivity in such environments. The survey data presented are valuable for optimizing wireless access point (WAP) locations and conditions. A computational method is developed to analyze the wireless communication system, RF coverage, and module compositions. The method is both rigorous and practical for assessing the ISS wireless system performance. The computational tools in this paper serve as a complementary approach to direct, on-orbit measurements, which is a complicated and expensive task. In some operational scenarios, ground measurements may be intractable due to the size of the spacecraft. Results from this research will aid future space missions and commercial spacecraft, providing insights into optimal WAP placements and robust wireless communication systems.
Astrobee is a free flying robot for the inside of the International Space Station (ISS). The Periodic Technical Review (PTR) delta 3 is the final design review of the system presented to stakeholders.
At the end of 2018, Astrobee will launch three free-flying robots that will navigate the entire US segment of the ISS (International Space Station) and serve as a payload facility. The mechanical and electrical interfaces are now established and several payloads are being developed. Payload Interface: Astrobee is designed to host third party guest science program payloads (GSP payloads). Some GSP payloads may be software only, such as the Zero Robotics Finals Competition, which is currently hosted on SPHERES, and which will transition to Astrobee in 2019. Several GSP payloads with custom hardware, such as the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Logistics Reduction and Repurposing (LRR) Project RFID reader, are already under development. These payloads will attach in the Astrobee payload bay.
The paper summary details the function, design, and lessons learned during the development of the Astrobee Free-Flyer nozzle. The Astrobee Free-Flyer is a free flying robot used aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
The Astrobees are NASA's next generation free-flying robots for the International Space Station (ISS). In this presentation we aim to disseminate to the general public the current status of Astrobee's software and hardware, its ground facilities used for testing, and how guest scientists use it as a research platform.
The HET2/Astrobee project is developing a new free-flying robot to succeed the existing SPHERES facility as a guest science research platform and to perform IVA work on the ISS. Relevance: The project will increase the capabilities of robots to perform IVA/EVA work in space and will increase the efficiency of human explorers by allowing routine, repetitive work to be off-loaded to robots. Approach: The project conducted incremental design and development of a robotic free flyer that meets project, stakeholder, and ISS interface and safety requirements. Results: 3 free flyers are on-orbit. The first robot has been unpacked and has begun flying autonomously within the ISS under crew supervision. Commissioning activities to validate the system continue.
At the end of 2018, Astrobee will launch three free-flying robots that will navigate the entire US segment of the ISS and serve as a payload facility. The mechanical and electrical interfaces are now established and several payloads are being developed.
Astrobee will help prove out the concept of “Caretaker Robots” for future exploration architectures (Lunar Gateway).
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This presentation describes the ISAAC phase 1 low-fidelity demonstration results. The demonstration satisfied the milestone from the Gateway-ISAAC Memorandum of Understanding to "Demonstrate spatial and logical data registration between robotics and spacecraft". It integrated many new ISAAC components, including a spatially linked model, Astrobee multi-sensor mapping, and an integrated data interface. It advanced ISAAC key performance parameters related to mapping, in a lab setting. Areas for phase 1 forward work include: improve maturity toward the high-fidelity demo on the ISS; demonstrate mapping with more sensor modalities; expand initial anomaly detection implementation into a flexible framework with multiple detection algorithms for different tasks; begin open source software release process for releasable ISAAC components.
Video highlights of first Astrobee free flyer, Bumble, on-orbit commissioning activities. Includes: unpacking, first wake up, nozzle stress test, JEM mapping, IMU calibration, first flight, first autonomous undock, disturbance rejection test, first autonomous docking, crew tumbling alongside the robot, first long (3m) flight, first autonomous flight, and first autonomous survey. (3 minutes and 57 seconds long video).
The Integrated System for Autonomous and Adaptive Caretaking (ISAAC) project is developing technology for autonomous caretaking of spacecraft, primarily during uncrewed mission phases. ISAAC aims to integrate autonomous intra-vehicular robots (IVR) with spacecraft infrastructure (power, life support, etc.) and ground control. It focuses on capabilities required for NASA’s Gateway cis-lunar outpost that also apply to human missions to Mars and beyond. Its development strategy is to test using existing IVR on the ISS (the Astrobee free-flyer and Robonaut dextrous manipulator) as an analog for future IVR on Gateway.
This a report on JAXA’s Kibo Robot Programing Challenge (RPC) Checkout activity which took place on 2020-05-21. This activity is an on-orbit test for the upcoming competition organized by JAXA and to be ran by September 2020. It aimed to check the multiple aspects of the operation of Bumble in support of this competition. The activity had three primary objectives: a) verification of four different positions to be visited during the competition, namely Start Position, P1, P2, and P3, b) demonstration of Bumble autonomously moving from the Start Position to P3 without keep-in/keep-out zones and c) demonstration of Bumble autonomously moving from the Start Position to P3 with JAXA’s defined keep-in/keep-out zones. The report emphasizes the confirmation of JAXA’s previously calculated and commanded coordinates for each position and the Astrobee Facilities Team (AFT) estimation of new coordinates in case those coordinates did not match JAXA’s desired target positions per ground and crew procedures. Four estimated coordinates are proposed and various suggestions on operation procedures are given to improve the maneuverability of Bumble during the actual day of the competition.