{"id":8524,"date":"2014-08-08T14:04:51","date_gmt":"2014-08-08T18:04:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=8524"},"modified":"2014-08-08T14:04:51","modified_gmt":"2014-08-08T18:04:51","slug":"driving-a-robot-on-the-ground-from-the-iss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=8524","title":{"rendered":"Driving a robot on the ground from the ISS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Telerobotics, i.e. controlling a robot from a distance, could be useful in space for, say, asteroid sampling in which an astronaut in a\u00a0nearby\u00a0spacecraft controls a robot on the surface of the object. A mission to Mars might initially involve astronauts remaining in orbit while\u00a0controlling robots on the surface. A demonstration of a telerobotic operation was carried out this week using the Int. Space Station:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.esa.int\/Our_Activities\/Operations\/Gerst_drives_car-sized_rover_from_space\" target=\"_d\">Gerst drives car-sized rover from space<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>8 August 2014<\/strong>: Looking down from orbit, ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst steered ESA\u2019s Eurobot rover through a series of intricate manoeuvres on the ground yesterday, demonstrating a new space network that could connect astronauts to vehicles on alien worlds.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LfkQDHE3MzY?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>During an intense 90-minute live link on 7 August, Alex used a dedicated controller laptop on the International Space Station to operate Eurobot, relying on video and data feedback to feed commands from 400 km up, orbiting at 28 000 km\/h.<\/p>\n<p>The link was provided by a new network that stores commands when signals are interrupted if direct line of sight with Earth or the surface unit is lost, forwarding them once contact is re-established.<\/p>\n<p>In the future, controlling robots on Mars or the Moon will require a sort of \u2018space Internet\u2019 to send telecommands and receive data. Such networks must also accommodate signal delays across vast distances, considering that astronauts and rovers on Mars will have to be linked with mission controllers on Earth.<\/p>\n<div id=\"s_1\">\n<p>Yesterday\u2019s demonstration was the second in a series of experiments under the Meteron project, following the 2012 test by NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, who used an initial version of the network by steering a model rover at ESA\u2019s ESOC operations centre in Darmstadt, Germany.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis was the first time Eurobot was controlled from space as part of an experiment to validate communication and operations technologies that will ultimately be used for future human exploration missions,\u201d noted Kim Nergaard, head of Advanced Mission Concepts at ESOC.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"s_2\">\n<p><strong>Rover driving license<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>During the session, which started at 16:35 GMT (18:35 CEST), Alexander Gerst commanded Eurobot to move and take pictures based on telemetry and pictures streaming to the Station from the rover.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"s_3\">\n<p>Eurobot was inching around a test facility at ESA\u2019s ESTEC technology centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, while \u2018ground control\u2019 was at ESOC and the disruption-tolerant network was routed via Belgium\u2019s Station User Support and Operations Centre in Brussels, and NASA.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ready to Rove<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"s_4\">\n<p>Simulations to prepare for yesterday\u2019s link included live connections between Darmstadt, Noordwijk and Brussels to the Space Station throughout July.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday\u2019s result is even better than the simulations we conducted,\u201d said Daniela Taubert, Meteron\u2019s operations coordinator. \u201cThe whole experiment ran extremely smoothly. Alex was faster and more efficient that we had expected.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"s_5\">\n<p>William Carey, ESA\u2019s Meteron project engineer, agreed: \u201cIt is great to have a hands-on test of part of ESA\u2019s long-term strategy to send humans and robots to explore our Solar System.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Future space exploration will most likely involve sending robotic explorers to check out alien surfaces before landing humans. To prepare for this, ESA is running the Meteron human\u2013robot exploration programme: Multi-Purpose End-To-End Robotic Operations Network.<\/p>\n<div id=\"s_6\" class=\"section\" style=\"color: #031e31;\">\n<p>More images of the team and activities at\u00a0<a style=\"color: #0098db;\" title=\"Meteron at ESOC via Flickr\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/esa_events\/sets\/72157646263587681\/\" target=\"_blank\">ESOC via Flickr<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Telerobotics, i.e. controlling a robot from a distance, could be useful in space for, say, asteroid sampling in which an astronaut in a\u00a0nearby\u00a0spacecraft controls a robot on the surface of the object. A mission to Mars might initially involve astronauts remaining in orbit while\u00a0controlling robots on the surface. A demonstration of a telerobotic operation was &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=8524\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Driving a robot on the ground from the ISS<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,17,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-space-infrastructure","category-living-in-space","category-space-systems"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-2du","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":26051,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=26051","url_meta":{"origin":8524,"position":0},"title":"Videos: \u201cSpace to Ground\u201d &#038; other space habitat reports \u2013 July.31.2023","author":"TopSpacer","date":"July 31, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is the latest episode in NASA's Space to Ground weekly report on activities related to the International Space Station: https:\/\/youtu.be\/KyB7QfgowMM ** Launch of Northrop Grumman's 19th Cargo Mission to the Space Station (Official NASA Broadcast) - NASA Watch live as medical studies, a new water dispenser, artwork from students\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;In Space Infrastructure&quot;","block_context":{"text":"In Space Infrastructure","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=15"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/1200px-International_Space_Station_after_undocking_of_STS-132-500x319.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":20840,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=20840","url_meta":{"origin":8524,"position":1},"title":"Videos: &#8220;Space to Ground&#8221; ISS report &#8211; Jan.17.2020","author":"TopSpacer","date":"January 17, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is the latest episode in NASA's Space to Ground weekly report on activities related to the International Space Station: https:\/\/youtu.be\/isH8Sk_lNr4 ** Down to Earth \u2013 Episode 6 - Ever Changing Picture As we enter the year the space station 20th anniversary, NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson shares what stood\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;In Space Infrastructure&quot;","block_context":{"text":"In Space Infrastructure","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=15"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/bigelow-xbase-_20160808-001-300x232.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16580,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=16580","url_meta":{"origin":8524,"position":2},"title":"Video: Japan&#8217;s BIRDS project deploys satellites from ISS for countries new to space","author":"TopSpacer","date":"August 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The Japan space agency's BIRDS project\u00a0has launched university student-built CubeSats from the Kibo module on the International Space Station\u00a0for several countries that have never before put spacecraft into orbit. 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