ESA successfully tests controlling a robot on Earth from orbit
The European Space Agency (ESA) has successfully completed a test program, proving that an astronaut in orbit on ISS can control and operate a small robot on Earth.
Astronaut Luca Parmitano aboard the ISS [in 2019] operated the gripper-equipped ESA Interact rover in a mock lunar environment inside a hangar in Valkenburg, the Netherlands to survey rocks and collect samples. The two-hour space-to-ground test was a success, overcoming a two-way signal delay averaging more than 0.8 seconds and a data packet loss rate of 1% plus.
The value of this test is obvious. It shows that astronauts will be able to use small rovers and robots in remote operations, such as sending a probe down to the surface before landing themselves, or once on the planet sending that probe into dangerous terrain as a scout, while the astronaut stays back in safety.
At the same time, the robot used and the tasks it completed were all relatively simple. Moreover, the “mock lunar environment” was hardly realistic. A lot more work is needed before such a robot is functional in a real planetary environment.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
The European Space Agency (ESA) has successfully completed a test program, proving that an astronaut in orbit on ISS can control and operate a small robot on Earth.
Astronaut Luca Parmitano aboard the ISS [in 2019] operated the gripper-equipped ESA Interact rover in a mock lunar environment inside a hangar in Valkenburg, the Netherlands to survey rocks and collect samples. The two-hour space-to-ground test was a success, overcoming a two-way signal delay averaging more than 0.8 seconds and a data packet loss rate of 1% plus.
The value of this test is obvious. It shows that astronauts will be able to use small rovers and robots in remote operations, such as sending a probe down to the surface before landing themselves, or once on the planet sending that probe into dangerous terrain as a scout, while the astronaut stays back in safety.
At the same time, the robot used and the tasks it completed were all relatively simple. Moreover, the “mock lunar environment” was hardly realistic. A lot more work is needed before such a robot is functional in a real planetary environment.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
“a real planetary environment”
The planets and moons we got within 5.3 AU of our Sun, fit for orbit, share these characteristics: near-airless atmo, Mars or Moon g, covered in fine dust or snow powder, and baked with radiation. We’re ruling out using anything like this robot at, say, Venus.
Although Antarctica “right here” might be interesting to interact with, from orbit. High orbit for line-of-sight, methinks. Unless we’re okay with the delays from a polar orbit.
If only we had an ansible for telepresense-use in waldo-work.
Of all odd places to learn about sensory latency, I was gobsmacked by my latency sensitivity in Rock Band. My eye (TV) and ear (stereo) “what’s going on?!?!” latency is about 30msec. If the two desynch by more than that, it’s confusing.
The game doesn’t let you adjust the physical feedback latency, but it would be interesting to test that, too. One supposes that with training, a person could get used to _some_ latency between action and result, but our proprioception systems are VERY old. It might require a great deal of training or natural talent at it.
Are the issues with remote drone piloting publicized anywhere or is it all classified? Round trip fiber latency from Chicago to London is non-trivial (~200msec, right now; dealing with the slow speed of light is part of my job). Satellite links are much worse and pale in comparison to Earth/Moon.
Still, a very cool experiment.
Are the issues with remote drone piloting publicized anywhere?
The overall problem seems well known:
https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/21352/how-do-drones-overcome-latency
Some the the posters are fairly clueless (it is the Internet, after all).
“Some the the posters are fairly clueless (it is the Internet, after all).”
Not just the internet. I had a NASA engineer tell me that we needed to increase the baud rate (the speed, as he understood it) because the Pad was a long way away.
Hey, they’re in charge. What can you say?