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ICES-2020-428.Pdf (3.062Mb) ICES-2020-428 Astronaut Smart Glove: A Human-Machine Interface For the Exploration of the Moon, Mars and Beyond Pascal Lee1 Mars Institute, SETI Institute and NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000, USA Christopher P. McKay2 NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000, USA Gregory Quinn3, Thomas Chase4, Jake Rohrig5 Collins Aerospace, 1 Hamilton Road, Windsor Locks, CT 06096, USA Moina Tamuly6, Sondre Tagestad7, Haakon Pettersen8, Magnus Arveng9, Frank Oygard10 Ntention AS, Granveien 53, 1394, Nesbru, Norway Brandon Dotson11 Aviation Flight Test Directorate, Redstone Arsenal, AL 35808, USA and John W. Schutt12 Mars Institute and SETI Institute, 189 N. Bernardo Ave, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA Astronauts exploring the Moon, Mars and beyond will be assisted by robotic systems to render their work more efficient, productive, and safe. Among these, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones (airplanes, rotorcraft, or gas thrustered flyers), hold great promise, as they may assist astronauts in a wide range of science and exploration activities. UAV operations, however, are presently demanding tasks. Conventional drone interfaces require significant dexterity and situational awareness to enable subtle and rapid real-time control inputs. Such interfacing would be inadequate if the drone operator were wearing a pressurized spacesuit, as the latter fundamentally limits an astronaut’s ability to perceive and interact with the extra-vehicular environment. During the 2019 campaign of the NASA Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) on Devon Island, High Arctic, an established Moon and Mars analog field research site, a novel concept for a wireless human-machine interface (HMI) called “Astronaut Smart Glove”(ASG) was field- tested in partially simulated, unpressurized astronaut extra-vehicular activity (EVA). The ASG, along with its compact in-suit augmented reality (AR) head-mounted display (HMD), 1 Director, Mars Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, MS 245-3. E-mail: [email protected] 2 Senior Research Scientist, Space Sciences Division, NASA Ames Research Center, MS 245-3. 3 Principal Research Engineer, Collins Aerospace, Civil Space & Sea Systems, MS 1A-2-W66. 4 Engineer, Collins Aerospace, Civil Space & Sea Systems, MS 1A-2-W66. 5 Engineer, Collins Aerospace, Civil Space & Sea Systems, MS 1A-2-W66. 6 Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Ntention AS. 7 Lead Engineer, Hardware & Software Systems, Ntention AS. 8 CTO, Ntention AS. 9 Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Ntention AS. 10 Officer, Strategy & Research, Ntention AS. 11 Test pilot, Aviation Flight Test Directorate, Redstone Arsenal. 12 Base Manager, Field Operations, Mars Institute. were evaluated for their potential adequacy in allowing UAVs to be operated by a suited astronaut. The ASG showed promise in being able to address both the dexterity and situational awareness limitations of spacesuits by allowing an astronaut to operate single- handedly, within conservative work envelopes for EVA hand operations, a UAV via low amplitude, intuitive gestures of one hand, and in head-up mode via direct visual contact with the UAV and/or in First Person View (FPV) using the AR display. While the ASG offers the prospect of enabling a wide range of robotic operations in future human exploration, further studies are needed to understand better the system’s potential limitations, in particular higher fidelity tests using a pressurized suit, and field demonstrations of end-to-end EVA surface science and exploration operations. I. Introduction HE Astronaut Smart Glove (ASG) is a concept human-machine interface (HMI) for EVA spacesuits that would T allow astronauts to operate a wide range of robotic systems on the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere in space by simple, intuitive, single-handed hand, wrist, and finger gestures. The ASG is the result of a collaboration between non-profit space research organizations (Mars Institute and SETI Institute in the USA), government (NASA, specifically NASA Ames Research Center), and private industry (Collins Aerospace in the USA and Ntention in Norway). A first prototype of the ASG was designed and developed in Spring 2019, and field-tested as part of a concept spacesuit for future Moon and Mars exploration at the NASA Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) planetary analog field research site on Devon Island, High Arctic, in Summer 2019. This paper presents the context and results of this initial field study. The reported study was motivated, and rendered possible, by the convergence of several key factors: 1) long- standing and ongoing field studies of spacesuit systems at the NASA HMP with Collins Aerospace to develop advanced EVA concepts for Moon and Mars science and exploration, in particular to make future EVAs easier, more productive, more cost-effective, and safer; 2) the ongoing use of drones/UAVs at the NASA HMP in support of field geology and planetary analog field science and exploration studies, and 3) the development by Ntention of a ground- breaking smart glove allowing intuitive, single-handed commercial drone operations. In this paper, we describe the NASA HMP as context for our field study, the need and challenge of creating practical HMIs allowing astronauts on EVA on the Moon, Mars and beyond to interface with a wide range of robotic systems, and the growing importance and promise of UAVs in planetary science and exploration. We then present the ASG concept and design, describe the HMP-2019 ASG field experiment, and summarize the ASG field test results. II. NASA Haughton-Mars Project The Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) is an international multidisciplinary field research project dedicated to advancing planetary science and exploration. The HMP was established in 1997 and is centered on the scientific study of the Haughton meteorite impact crater and surrounding terrain on Devon Island, High Arctic, viewed as a planetary analog, in particular for the Moon and Mars.1 Devon Island is the largest uninhabited island on Earth. The environment on Devon is extreme by terrestrial standards and is best described as a polar desert (not tundra), i.e., cold (-40°C < T < +10°C), dry, and unvegetated. The island presents the single largest continuous area of barren rocky polar desert on Earth. Devon Island is home to Haughton Crater, a 20 km-diameter meteorite impact crater formed 23 Ma ago, during the Miocene epoch. The HMP site has been used extensively by NASA as a uniquely relevant Moon and Mars science and exploration operations analog. The site is commonly referred to as “Mars On Earth”. Research at HMP is divided into two programs: Science and Exploration. The HMP Science program seeks to learn about the site’s geology and biology, in order to gain insights into the nature and evolution of the Moon, Mars, and other planetary bodies via comparative studies.2 In the process, the HMP Science program also contributes new knowledge about Devon Island, the Arctic, and the evolution of the Earth through time. The HMP Exploration program seeks to use the site to develop, test, and validate new exploration technologies and strategies for planning the future human and robotic exploration of the Moon and Mars. Exploration systems studied include habitats, spacesuits, ground vehicles, aircraft - drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) -, robotic rovers, drills, instruments, tools, life support systems, plant growth systems, and communications and other information systems. Human factors and crew resource management (CRM) studies are also carried out. Research at HMP is supported by NASA and other research partners in government, academia, non-profits, and industry. 2 International Conference on Environmental Systems The Haughton-Mars Project Research Station (HMPRS), the HMP’s Base Camp on Devon Island, is located at 75° 26' N, 89° 52' W, in the northwestern rim area of Haughton Crater (Fig. 1). The HMPRS is currently the largest privately operated polar research station on Earth, and the only one dedicated to planetary analog science and exploration studies.3 The NASA HMP is headquartered at NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) at Moffett Field, California. For more information: www.marsonearth.org Figure 1: Haughton-Mars Project Research Station: Left: Location map. Center & Right: Base camp. (HMP). III. EVA on the Moon and Mars: The Human-Machine Interface Challenge EVA spacesuits are both enabling and limiting. Although dexterous manipulation and one-handed or two-handed manipulation at a task site are considered advantages of EVA, dexterity remains significantly restricted.* Because pressurization results in stiffening of the pressure garment, an astronaut’s motions and mobility are significantly restricted during EVAs. Spacesuits also limit as astronaut’s situational awareness because of the directionally- restricted and optically-degraded visibility imposed by the helmet and visor. A. Spacesuit Gloves The limited dexterity allowed by pressurized spacesuit gloves is a significant and well-recognized problem. The NASA-STD-3000 standards document states: “Space suit gloves degrade tactile proficiency compared to bare hand operations…Attention should be given to the design of manual interfaces to preclude or minimize hand fatigue or physical discomfort.”4 Astronauts are commonly on record identifying spacesuit gloves as a top priority item in their EVA apparel needing significant improvement (Fig. 2). Apollo astronaut-geologist Harrison “Jack” Schmitt, who wore the A7-LB suit on Apollo 17, singled out hand fatigue and dexterity as the top two problems to address in
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