Telerobotic architecture for an on-orbit servicer

An on-orbit servicer system has unique functional and human factors requirements. The servicing, whether it be teleoperation task, a supervised control task or an autonomous robotic task, the man-machine interface function is likely to be a bottleneck to the operation of the whole system. The man-machine interface system for a space servicer, namely the operator control station, includes several subsystems with a hierarchical architecture. Those subsystems include a reasoning and planning subsystem (also known as the artificial intelligence planner), a run-time control subsystem, a manipulator control and mechanization subsystem, and a sensing and perception subsystem. Indicative of these potentials, certain generic tasks, suggestive of space assembly, maintenance and repair, were performed in a testbed environment. Through performance in several modes: direct teleoperation, shared control, traded control, and robotic operation, the benefits of the individual technology contributions to the operation were quantized and recommendations for use in telerobotic systems were established.