Orbital replacement unit changeout experiments with a telerobot testbed system

Orbital replacement unit (ORU) changeout experiments were performed with the JPL/NASA telerobot testbed system for three different control modes: force reflecting teleoperation (FR), shared compliant control (SCC), and autonomous control (AC). In FR, the operator was provided with kinesthetic force feedback, feeling contact forces through a force-reflecting hand controller. In SCC, the operator controlled a compliant robot, where the robot compliance was implemented by an autonomous compliant control force feedback. In AC, telemanipulation tasks were performed autonomously by using a sequence of macros. Experimental results indicate that SCC greatly reduces the magnitudes and durations of contact forces as compared to FR. AC took the least time to complete the ORU changeout task and, with appropriate operator intervention capabilities, it could be very pleasant to use in some applications with well-structured task environments