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ROTEX — The first space robot technology experiment

  • Section 9 Space Robotics And Flexible Manipulators
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Experimental Robotics III

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Control and Information Sciences ((LNCIS,volume 200))

Abstract

The paper describes the key technologies developed for the space robot technology experiment ROTEX that flew with shuttle flight STS 55 end of April 93. During this „spacelab-D2”-mission for the first time in the history of space flight a small, multisensory robot (i.e. provided with modest local intelligence) has performed a number of prototype tasks on board a spacecraft in the most different operational modes that are feasible today, namely preprogrammed (and reprogrammed from ground), remotely controlled (teleoperated) by the astronauts using a control ball and a stereo-TV-monitor, but also remotely controlled from ground via the human operator as well as via machine intelligence. In these operational modes the robot successfully closed and opened connector plugs (bajonet closure), assembled structures from single parts and captured a free-floating object.

Key technologies for the success of ROTEX have been its multisensory gripper technology, local (shared autonomy) sensory feedback control concepts, and the powerful delay-compensating 3D-graphics simulation (predictive simulation) in the telerobotic ground station.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. D L R (German Aerospace Research Establishment), Oberpfaffenhofen, D-82234, Wessling

    G. Hirzinger

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  1. G. Hirzinger
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Tsuneo Yoshikawa (PhD)Fumio Miyazaki (PhD)

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© 1994 Springer-Verlag London Limited

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Hirzinger, G. (1994). ROTEX — The first space robot technology experiment. In: Yoshikawa, T., Miyazaki, F. (eds) Experimental Robotics III. Lecture Notes in Control and Information Sciences, vol 200. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0027622

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0027622

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-19905-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-39355-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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