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From: dietz@SLB-DOLL.CSNET (Paul Dietz)
Newsgroups: net.space
Subject: re: teleoperators
Message-ID: <8603062047.AA04881@s1-b.arpa>
Date: Thu, 6-Mar-86 12:56:41 EST
Article-I.D.: s1-b.8603062047.AA04881
Posted: Thu Mar  6 12:56:41 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 8-Mar-86 04:59:11 EST
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Organization: The ARPA Internet
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  Aviation Week (March 3, 1986, pages 73) has an article on Canadian
plans to upgrade their manipulator arm for use on the space station.
According to the article, about $300 to $600 million in funding is
required.  The Integrated Service and Test Facility would be a
shelter with a removable cover and a seven degree of freedom
manipulator arm 50 - 60 feet long (three d.o.f. at the wrist,
one at the elbow and three at the shoulder).  A smaller robot
about 20 feet long could be picked up by the larger arm.  The small
robot would have two arms, a coarse are with 7 d.o.f. and a fine
control arm with 8 d.o.f.

  The large manipulator arm would not suffer from some of the control
singularities of the current shuttle arm, and would be able to
manipulate up to 200,000 pounds of payload (the mass of a shuttle
orbiter).  The shuttle arm must be lightweight and waves around
when carrying heavy payloads.

  The Canadians want their facility to be able to undo bolts and screws
and ultimately be able to remove boxes and circuit cards.  According
to James A. Middleton of Spar Aerospace, Ltd. this depends on designing
spacecraft interfaces to make the task as simple as possible, with units
mounted in the spacecraft with snap fasteners or something similar.

  So, it looks like teleoperators could be feasible, but will initially
be part of a space station.  I should have realized the space station 
would provide a good environment for field testing space robotics.

  John Redford writes: "If we want to do things farther away than our
low-orbit backyard, we'll have to put people there."  If speed-of-light
delays are crippling humans will be needed in GEO and beyond, but
they'll be advised to use remote manipulators for radiation protection.
If the space station gets built it probably won't be hard to try
experiments controlling the arm(s) from the ground via the TDRS
satellites.