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Overview
The Autonomous Systems
Laboratory (ASL) was established in September 2005 and is located in
695A Rhodes Hall.
The purpose of the laboratory is to enable
experimental development and validation of hardware and software for
spacecraft servicing applications. Spacecraft servicing
involves autonomous rendezvous, docking, and dexterous manipulation of
a target spacecraft by a servicing spacecraft. The Spacecraft
Servicing Testbed, described below, is the primary testbed employed
in the ASL. Another important component of the ASL is the
Prototype Surgical Robotic System, also described below, that is being
used to develop novel procedures for robot assisted skull base surgery.
The Autonomous Systems Laboratory is a resource of both the Department of Aerospace Engineering and the College of Engineering's emerging Intelligent Autonomous Systems thrust area.
Click on the links at left to
learn more about the personnel and projects of the ASL.
Spacecraft Servicing Testbed
The Spacecraft
Servicing
Testbed consists of a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries PA10-7C seven degree
of freedom robotic manipulator mounted on a mobile platform and a
geosynchronous spacecraft mockup. The mobile platform, called
AROD (Autonomous Robot On Demand), was designed and manufactured by undergraduate engineering students in the summer of 2006.
AROD is operated via a wired joystick, has a maximum speed of
4
mph, and can drive approximately 5 miles on a single charge.
The
robot arm is operated via a wireless joystick, and can operate for
approximately 2 hours on a single charge. Over time the
mobile
robot system will be transformed into an autonomous ground vehicle.
Spacecraft Servicing Testbed
The spacecraft model is
representative of a sub-scale Boeing Satellite Systems BSS-702
geosynchronous
communications spacecraft, a popular civilian spacecraft and base
platform for a variety of U.S. military spacecraft such as the Wideband
Gapfiller. This target incorporates many characteristics
that
make the BSS-702 a challenging spacecraft to autonomously grapple.
For example, the sensors used to acquire and track the target
spacecraft must contend with the highly specular, high reflectivity,
and low reflectivity materials that make up the target. Other
realistic features include the 100 lbf rocket nozzle, painted to appear
fired, the white square aft thermal blanket, aluminized mylar thermal
blanket, and four cup/cone attachment interfaces for the spent
interstage adapter.
The combination of realistic spacecraft target and agile servicer
vehicle make the Spacecraft Servicing Testbed unique for the
development and validation of hardware and algorithms for advanced
space automation and robotics applications.
Prototype Surgical Robotic System
The Prototype
Surgical Robotic System utilizes
a Stryker Saber surgical drill mounted atop the Mitsubishi PA10-7C
robot arm. As shown in the photo below, the surgeon views the
surgical field through an otologic microscope, positions the drill
using a wireless joystick, and operates the drill using a
standard
foot pedal controller. A number of improvements are in
progress,
including replacement of the joystick with a haptic feedback handpiece
input device and replacement of the microscope with a virtual reality
stereo goggle system utilizing cameras mounted beneath the drill.
These improvements are aimed at improving the accuracy of
tool
placement to a fraction of a millimeter.
Prototype Surgical Robotic
System
The aim of the
robot assisted
surgery research and development is the creation of smart tools that
can aid the surgeon by providing warnings when critical structures,
such as the carotid artery, facial nerve, optic nerve, and dura, are
being encroached upon during skull base procedures.
Furthermore,
such tools coupled with powerful fused preoperative MRI and CT imagery
and intraoperative navigation systems may provide a high level of
autonomous operation. Another objective is the
interoperability
of the hardware with both the physical subject and a virtual reaility
representation of the subject so as to maximize the efficacy of
pre-operative planning and training.
This project is a collaboration between Prof. Albert Bosse of the
Department of Aerospace Engineering and Dr. Ravi Samy of the College of
Medicine Department of Otolaryngology.
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