The Robotics Institute

RI | Seminar | April 23, 2007

Robotics Institute Seminar, April 23, 2007
Time and Place | Seminar Abstract | Speaker Biography

Field Tests of a Mobile Manipulation, Supervised Across Earth-Moon Time Delays

 

 

Dr. Robert Ambrose

Assistant Division Chief of Automation

Robotics and Simulation Division
NASA

 

Time and Place

 

Mauldin Auditorium (NSH 1305)
Talk 3:30 pm


RoboCast

 

Abstract

 

As Uncle Sam returns America to the Moon, NASA is seeking a few good robots as part of the team. A collaboration of NASA centers has been formed to build and test candidate systems for this exploration mission now targeted for the lunar southpole in the year 2020. The plan calls for landing a series of cargo and human missions on the rim of the Shackleton crater, then assembling an outpost on a hill top that enjoys year round sun and long periods of direct to earth communication. Robotic systems will be a part of this expedition, in the forms of orbital observers, rovers driven by the crew, and surface mobility carriers that unload landers and transport material from the landing zone to the outpost construction site. These robotic systems will work and maintain the outpost between crew missions, and assist the astronauts in long range science traverses into the most extreme terrain that the moon offers. Early candidate systems have already been designed and prototyped by NASA engineers. These robotic systems were combined with advanced suit, communication and power system technologies in a field test during September 2007 at Meteor Crater Arizona. Results from that experiment, an overview of the systems tested, and future plans will be the subject of this presentation.

 

Speaker Biography

 
 

Robert Ambrose serves as the Chief of the Robotics Systems Technology Branch within the Automation, Robotics and Simulation Division at NASA's Johnson Space Center. His Branch is tasked with developing new robot technology for NASA's Space Operations and Exploration Mission Directorates. Robert Ambrose received his B.S. (1986) and M.S. (1987) in Mechanical Engineering from Washington University, and his Ph.D. (1991) from the University of Texas. During his Post Doctoral year at the University of Texas, he was a Co-Investigator on a NASA grant studying remote operations of robots, and furthered his work on robot design methodologies. In 1992, he joined NASA's Johnson Space Center working for MITRE and then Metrica, Inc, on contracts assisting in the design of new robotic systems. Dr. Ambrose currently serves as the Principal Investigator on two research projects for the NASA Exploration Directorate, titled "Telepresence for Remote Supervision of Robots", and "Flight Demonstration of a Dexterous Robot with EVA Crew". 

 

The Robotics Institute is part of the School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University.