The space and telerobotic concepts of the DFVLR ROTEX

Abstract

The Paper outlines the concepts of a robot technology experiment ROTEX we have proposed to fly with the next German spacelab mission D2 (originally planned for 88, now delayed for at least two years). It provides a small, six axis robot inside a space-lab rack, equipped with a multisensory gripper (force/torque, an array of range finders, stereo optical fibers). The robot is supposed to handle a biological experiment, to perform several assembly and "servicing tasks" and to grasp floating objects. The paper focusses on the man-machine and supervisory control concepts for teleoperation from the spacecraft and from ground and expecially explains the predictive estimation schemes for an extensive use of delay-compensating 3D-computer graphics.