ROTEX-the first remotely controlled robot in space

In April 1993 for the first time in the history of space flight, a small multisensory robot performed a number of prototype tasks on-board a spacecraft (spacelab D2 on shuttle COLUMBIA) in different operational modes that are feasible today, namely preprogrammed remotely controlled operations by the astronauts using a control ball and a stereo TV-monitor, as well as remotely controlled from ground via the human operator and machine intelligence. In these operational modes the robot successfully closed and opened connector plugs (bayonet closure), assembled structures from single parts and captured a free-floating object. Several key technologies have made this space robot technology experiment ROTEX a big success: multisensory gripper technology, local (shared autonomy) sensory feedback control concepts, and the powerful delay-compensating 3D-graphics simulation (predictive simulation) in the telerobotic ground station. This paper focusses on the tele-sensor-programming approach and the predictive simulation used for remote ground control