Within Arms' Reach: Infrastructure for Research in Support of the Canadarm3 Program

触手可及：支持 Canadaarm3 计划的研究基础设施

• 批准号: RTI-2021-00647
• 负责人: Kelly, Jonathan
• 金额: $ 10.83万
• 依托单位: University of Toronto
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Research Tools and Instruments
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=718862
• 关键词: Within; Arms; Reach; Infrastructure; Research

Canada has a long history of seminal contributions to space robotics beginning with the original Canadarm robotic manipulator, which first launched on NASA's Space Shuttle (Space Transportation System, or STS) in 1981 and was key to the success of the STS program. The Canadarm2, a more capable and sophisticated bimanual (dual-hand) manipulator, was installed on board the International Space Station in 2001, and continues to provide essential servicing and berthing support. Canada's next step in space will take us beyond Earth orbit to the Moon - the Canadarm3 will service the Lunar Gateway, a space station in lunar orbit. Canadarm3, and the Lunar Gateway, represent a potential renaissance in Canadian space robotics and an opportunity to advance Canada's leadership in this key field. The original Canadarm, and the Canadarm2, were designed to be tele-operated by astronauts on-orbit or by ground controllers and hence had very limited autonomy capabilities. The arm destined for the Lunar Gateway, however, will require a new generation of autonomy algorithms to be developed. Gateway is expected to be unstaffed for long periods - the round-trip travel time for signals from Earth to lunar orbit will be too long to make safe tele-operation feasible. In turn, advanced autonomy solutions will be needed to enable the Canadarm3 to operate without direct human guidance. This proposal is for the acquisition of a bimanual mobile manipulator, or a robot that incorporates a mobile base and two manipulator arms with specialized grippers (hands). This system will replicate, on a smaller scale, the mobility and dexterity of the bimanual Canadarm3. Such a testbed will be critical to developing the advanced autonomy necessary for on-orbit operations where the emphasis will be on ensuring safety despite imperfect models, scene clutter, and challenging lighting conditions; these conditions can be mocked up with the requested platform to validate autonomy algorithms on the ground. The requested equipment will enable key Canadarm3-related research projects, across four robotics groups at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, including: hybrid motion planning for mobile manipulation; model learning, anomaly detection, and performance improvement for flexible manipulators; on-orbit localization and mapping, and deep learning for worksite change detection. The mobile manipulator acquired through this grant will be a unique hardware platform in Canada and comparable to the best hardware at just a handful of laboratories worldwide. Using the requested equipment, the co-applicants' research will move beyond the current state of the art, solving problems that are essential to the Canadarm3 program and that have yet to be fully addressed by the community. The findings will also benefit several existing and potential terrestrial partner companies nationally who are interested in mobile manipulation for warehousing, services, and healthcare, for example.

加拿大在太空机器人领域有着悠久的历史，从最初的 Canadaarm 机器人操纵器开始，它于 1981 年首次在 NASA 的航天飞机（太空运输系统，简称 STS）上发射，是 STS 计划成功的关键。 Canadarm2 是一种功能更强大、更先进的双臂机械臂，于 2001 年安装在国际空间站上，并继续提供必要的服务和停泊支持。加拿大在太空领域的下一步将带我们超越地球轨道到达月球 - Canadaarm3 将为月球门户（月球轨道上的一个空间站）提供服务。 Canadaarm3 和 Lunar Gateway 代表了加拿大太空机器人技术的潜在复兴，以及提升加拿大在这一关键领域领导地位的机会。 最初的 Canadaarm 和 Canadaarm2 被设计为由在轨宇航员或地面控制器进行远程操作，因此自主能力非常有限。然而，用于月球门户的手臂将需要开发新一代自主算法。预计网关将长期无人值守——信号从地球到月球轨道的往返时间太长，无法实现安全的远程操作。反过来，需要先进的自主解决方案来使 Canadaarm3 能够在没有直接人类指导的情况下运行。该提案旨在采购一个双手移动机械手，或者一个包含移动底座和两个带有专门抓手（手）的机械臂的机器人。该系统将在较小的范围内复制双手 Canadaarm3 的移动性和灵活性。这样的测试平台对于开发在轨运行所需的先进自主性至关重要，其重点是确保安全，尽管模型不完善、场景混乱和照明条件具有挑战性；可以使用所需的平台模拟这些条件，以验证地面的自主算法。 所要求的设备将支持多伦多大学航空航天研究所四个机器人小组的与 Canadaarm3 相关的关键研究项目，包括：用于移动操纵的混合运动规划；灵活机械臂的模型学习、异常检测和性能改进；在轨定位和测绘，以及用于工地变化检测的深度学习。通过这笔赠款获得的移动机械手将成为加拿大独特的硬件平台，可与全球少数实验室的最佳硬件相媲美。使用所要求的设备，共同申请人的研究将超越当前的技术水平，解决对 Canadaarm3 计划至关重要且社区尚未完全解决的问题。这些发现还将使全国范围内对移动操作（例如仓储、服务和医疗保健）感兴趣的几家现有和潜在的地面合作伙伴公司受益。