Towards Intuitive Control of Space Robots: A Ground Development Facility with Exoskeleton

Abstract

This paper describes a novel ground development facility that is currently being built at the European Space Agency. The facility can be used to develop and test new man-machine interfaces for tele-control of dexterous space manipulators. Furthermore, the facility allows comparing performance of existing input devices, such as conventional joysticks, with novel devices, such as exoskeletons. The Ground Test-bed allows conducting tele-manipulation experiments with a real robot and to measure performance metrics during remote operations. The experimental comparisons planned to be undertaken with the test-bed are outlined.