Model-based teleoperation of a Space robot on ETS-VII using a haptic interface

In our previous works, we have proposed a mixed force and motion commands-based space robot teleoperation system and a compact 6-DOF haptic interface to achieve an effective manual teleoperation. Until now, the effectiveness of this system and the haptic interface has been confirmed by the experiments in our laboratory. The most important features of this teleoperation system are robustness against modeling errors and ability to realize the operator exerted force at a remote site. In this paper, elements of this system and the haptic interface have been employed to teleoperate the 6-DOF manipulator mounted on the Engineering Test Satellite VII (ETS-VII) which is a real space robotic system. Surface-tracking and peg-in-hole tasks with modeling errors have been executed in this experiment. The results show that our space robot teleoperation system including the haptic interface has been able to execute these tasks in real space environment without any big problems.