Human-robotic Exploration Research Articles

Guidance, navigation and control for 6DOF rendezvous in Cislunar multi-body environment

Recent studies highlighted the benefits of a support infrastructure located in Cislunar environment, which would ease the design of forthcoming space missions with a favorable access from and to the lunar surface, the Earth and many interplanetary destinations. Multi-body orbits rose a peculiar interest and were selected to stage a human-robotic exploration outpost; the family of Near Rectilinear Halo Orbits (NRHO), in particular, appears specifically suitable in these regards. Among the different capabilities that such outpost will tend to, the docking with other crewed or autonomous vehicles is a key feature that shall be present. Although low Earth orbit (LEO) rendezvous and docking is well assessed, no mission has performed such task in a multi-body gravitational environment. The paper presents a guidance, navigation and control (GNC) framework for 6 degrees of freedom (6DOF) coupled Cislunar rendezvous and docking. A feasible operational rendezvous scenario is detailed and exploited to define open-loop and closed-loop GNC functions for far-range and close-range. Then, the final approach is analyzed, proposing a closed-loop GNC that encompasses coupled translational-rotational dynamics. Vision-based only relative navigation techniques are applied to Cislunar multi-body dynamics to guarantee a coupled state estimation with a simple suite of sensors and a broad applicability range, ranging from passively cooperative to non-cooperative or unknown target spacecraft.

Remote science activities during the AMADEE-18 Mars analog mission: Preparation and execution during a simulated planetary surface mission

In preparation for future human-robotic exploration missions to Mars, the interaction between the in-situ Field Crews and a Remote Science Support (RSS) team on Earth is key. Human robotic exploration missions will experience communication delays, reduced bandwidth, limited availability of astronauts and robotic assets. This, in turn, elucidates the necessity for relatively autonomous frameworks such as robust protocols and comprehensive decision-making workflows. The AMADEE-18 analog mission in Oman simulated selected components of human planetary surface exploration, emphasizing the overall workflow integrating operational constraints with exploration-science related needs. In this work, we outline the operational objectives, processes, and lessons learned corresponding to the interaction between the remote science team and the mission's associated stakeholders. We have taken the lessons learned from past simulated missions and the training procedures established by OeWF (Austrian Space Forum), from which we were able to rigorously evaluate the role of the RSS team in the AMADEE-18 mission. We have analyzed the integration of a WorkFlow and Exploration Cascade within the context of the RSS in-depth, which cumulatively allowed for the successful deployment of Extravehicular activities during the mission. We found that a serial node work distribution of the remote science team was optimal for the success of integral tasks . Moreover, we implemented various modes of communication and found that Slack was the most effective and robust. The AMADEE-18 mission, along with its predecessors, forms part of a continuously developing body of research serving to inform and improve future human planetary exploration.

Building a Robotic, LEO-to-GEO Satellite Servicing Infrastructure as an Economic Foundation for 21st-Century Space Exploration

The strategy for accomplishing civilian exploration goals and objectives is in the process of a fundamental shift toward a new approach called “Flexible Path.” In this paper, the authors present a strategically aligned, government-industry partnership focused on the commercial development of Low Earth Orbit to Geostationary Orbit (LEO-to-GEO (LTG)) space over the next quarter century. A LTG satellite-servicing infrastructure and architecture concept is presented along with a brief assessment of the key applicable technologies. The evolution of the communications satellite industry is also discussed within the context of an emerging commercial in-space servicing industry. Large-scale, robotic, LTG satellite servicing is considered an essential economic pre-condition and next parallel or sequential step on the road toward robust, capital intensive human-robotic exploration beyond LEO. Such a step might produce the necessary pre-requisite economic value that can be used by future decision makers to justify further investment in exploration. A high-level implementation plan is offered.

Performance evaluation of underwater platforms in the context of space exploration

Robotic platforms are essential for future human planetary and lunar exploration as they can operate in more extreme environments with a greater endurance than human explorers. In this era of space exploration, a terrestrial analog that can be used for development of the coordination between manned and robotic vehicles will optimize the scientific return of future missions while concurrently minimizing the downtime of both human explorers and robotic platforms. This work presents the use of underwater exploratory robots – autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV), remotely operated vehicles (ROV), and manned submersibles – as analogues for mixed human–robot exploration of space. Subaqueous settings present diverse challenges for navigation, operation and recovery that require the development of an exploration model of a similar complexity as required for space exploration. To capitalize on the strengths of both robotic and human explorers this work presents lessons learnt with respect to the fields of human–robotic interface (HRI) and operator training. These are then used in the development of mission evaluation tools: (1) a task efficiency index (TEI), (2) performance metrics, and (3) exploration metrics. Although these independent evaluations were useful for specific missions, further refinement will be required to fully evaluate the strengths and capabilities of multiple platforms in a human–robotic exploration campaign in order to take advantage of unforeseen science opportunities in remote settings.