Sensors, Robots, and Humans: Working Together to Explore the Solar System
29 Jun 17
8:30 AM
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9:15 AM
Exploration of the Solar System is fundamentally driven by sensors. First and foremost, there are the science instruments which are designed to answer fundamental questions about the planets and moons being explored. It is the role of robots and space craft to enable that scientific exploration by safely bringing those instruments to distant locations. The design and function of robots is largely driven by their sensors -- one can only control what can be sensed, and the surrounding environments must be observed and modeled to enable safe navigation and interaction. Yet these remote systems do not opperate in isolation -- they are part of complex human teams, and much of the data being gathered by these robots must be transmitted back to Earth and displayed in intuitive and informative interfaces so that operators can comprehend the remote environment and the state of the robot. Scientists need to quickly understand the data being returned from the science sensors and how it relates to other information gathered about the planet being explored. Human teams of operators and scientists need to collaborate to produce plans for the robots which are based on the returned sensor data and which further the scientific investigations while also keeping the remote system safe. Finally, returned science data will often be explored for many years after the mission, and thus requires well designed storage, retrieval, and display interfaces to enable researchers to make the best use of the sensor data that was gathered.
This talk will describe how the NASA Ames Intelligent Robotics Group (IRG) is working to reinvent planetary exploration. First IRG's development of robots for human exploration will be presented. These robots are designed to perform work before, in parallel, and after human activity. Next, how IRG is building automated planetary mapping systems to process the enormous amount of data that NASA collects from orbit will be shown. Finally, how IRG is changin