Traction-drive telerobot for space manipulation

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Space Station Program marks the beginning of a new era in space utilization and habitation. Extensive use of remote manipulation and robotics to reduce astronaut extra-vehicular activity is expected. Emphasis on teleoperator technology in early space station phases, followed by growth of autonomous robotics capabilities, is planned. A new telerobot concept has been developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), under NASA Langley Research Center sponsorship, to address the technical needs of both teleoperations and robotics for these future NASA programs. The concept is based on traction drives, redundant kinematics, modular construction, and a state-of-the-art distributed, hierarchical control system.