Developing human-robot interaction software for NASA robotics over the past decade is one of the cornerstones of our work. In space and other restrictive environments, it is critical that astronauts are able to function seamlessly with robotic counterparts.

A Spaceman’s Best Friend

This area of robotics not only involves side-by-side human-robot interaction to perform joint tasks, but also remote interaction via an operator control unit (OCU). Adjustable autonomy, a term coined by TRACLabs Inc. engineers, allows for both teleoperation of robots and supervision of autonomous robots as well as any mode in between.

Robots that are operating very distant from human operators (for example on the Moon) need special software for summarizing their activities and presenting this summary to operators. TRACLabs Inc. is developing such software under a NASA grant. This also has applicability in the military and private sector in the operation of unmanned vehicles and drones.

Key Publications

• Robert Burridge, Jeff Graham, Kim Shillcutt, Robert Hirsh and David Kortenkamp, Experiments with an EVA Assistant Robot, in The 7th International Symposium on Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Automation in Space (i-SAIRAS-03), 2003.
• Debra Schreckenghost, Tam Ngo, Robert Burridge, Lui Wang, and Michel Izygon. Remote Task-level Commanding of Centaur over Time Delay. Space Technology Applications and International Forum 2008. Albuquerque, NM. Feb 2008.
• Debra Schreckenghost, Terrence Fong, Tod Milam, Estrellina Pacis, and Hans Utz. Real-time Assessment of Robot Performance During Remote Exploration Operations. IEEE Aerospace Conference. March 2009.
• D. Kortenkamp, Eric Huber and R. P. Bonasso, Recognizing and Interpreting Gestures on a Mobile Robot, AAAI-96 , 1996.