FEATURE
Goddard
Technologist Proposes Sensitive Skin Covering for
Robots
The
ballerina gracefully dances on a small stage. She
is followed not by a male partner, but by a robotic
arm manipulator that seems to sense her every move.
For NASA Goddard technologist Vladimir Lumelsky, the
performance captured on the videotape neatly shows
the future of robotics.
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Image right: Movie demonstrating the ability of the
robot to avoid contact with the ballerina. Click on
image to view animation (no narration). Credit: Vladimir
Lumelsky, NASA GSFC |
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It also demonstrates an advanced technology that
Lumelsky hopes to develop as part of the push from
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
to develop niche robotics capabilities critical for
carrying out the Vision for Space Exploration.
New
Laboratory Under Development
Lumelsky, until recently a professor at the University
of Wisconsin-Madison, has begun setting up a laboratory
at Goddard to develop a high-tech covering that would
enable robots to sense their environment and react
to it, much like humans respond when something or
someone touches their skin. Such a technology, which
he refers to as a "High-Tech Skin," is essential for
carrying out the Vision for Space Exploration because
the Vision depends heavily on humans and robots working
together under a variety of working conditions, many
of them highly unstructured, Lumelsky said.
"Robots
move well on their own, especially when nothing is
in the way," Lumelsky explained. However, change the
environment and a different picture emerges. "Robots
should be able to react, but today's robots can't,"
he said. "That's the difference and that's got to
change for exploration."
Touch
Sensing Remains Key
Although
great headway is being made in the area of computer
vision, vision isn't enough, he said. "Humans can
survive without sight, but they can't survive without
tactile sensing. The skin is the biggest organ in
our body. It's nothing more than a huge sensor."
Use
of Infrared Sensors
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Image left: Collisions: Wrapped in High-Tech Robot
Skin, the robot's movements demonstrate the feasibility
of a human safely sharing space with a powerful
heavy robot. Here the robot was instructed to
move from its prior position in the left top corner
of the frame all the way to the right, next to
the large colorful loop. If no obstacles were
to appear on the robot's way, it would have moved
along the most economical simple curve. But obstacles
do appear, and so the robot carefully moves around
two "working" people, while at the same time proceeding
toward its destination. Click on image to view
animation (no narration). Credit: Vladimir Lumelsky,
NASA GSFC |
The
idea is to develop a "sensitive skin" that technicians
could use to cover a robot. This skin will include
more than 1,000 infrared sensors that would detect
an object, and send the information to the robot's
"brain." The brain would digest the information, apply
reasoning and react within milliseconds by directing
the robot to move. Future skin prototypes likely will
have a higher density of sensors on the skin, which
will provide the robots with even greater dexterity.
Challenges
Ahead
Image right: High-Tech Robot Skin: Goddard technologist
Vladimir Lumelsky believes the future of robotics
lies with the development of a high-tech, sensor-embedded
covering that would be able to sense the environment,
much like human skin. Credit: Vladimir Lumelsky, NASA
GSFC
The
flexible plastic modules that will house the skin's
electronics will have to undergo a lot of testing
to assure that they're space qualified and able to
withstand radiation and extreme changes in light and
temperature, such as those that occur on other planets.
In addition, embedding the electronics on a large
surface material, or printing the skin like wallpaper,
presents another major hurdle. Work also is needed
in the area of motion-planning development and intelligence,
he added.
Since
moving to Goddard, Lumelsky began identifying resources
needed to create his laboratory.
The
sensitive skin was identified as a key technology
to develop at Goddard. It would prove vital in situations
where humans and robots work side-by-side in the construction
of large telescopes and in the operation of both in-space
and extraterrestrial equipment.
Lori
Keesey for the Goddard Space Flight Center
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2005/vladskin.html
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