Humanoid teleoperation system for space environments

Abstract

Our goal is to study collaborative working environments in which human and robotic agents can work together in the achievement of different tasks. The introduction of robots in the field of space applications becomes really useful when performing tasks that are too dangerous, too difficult or even impossible for humans. In this paper we present a teleoperation system for interacting with a humanoid robot in a space environment. A “lunar scenario” was built in which the HOAP-3 humanoid robot is able to detect and manipulate objects, with the help of a human operator. A human machine interface (HMI) and a high level command protocol have been developed for the teleoperation of the robot. The HMI allows an operator to control the robot movements and visualize the environment from robot cameras.