(DM)(2) - A MODULAR SOLUTION FOR ROBOTIC LUNAR MISSIONS

This paper describes the Dual-Use Mobile Detachable Manipulator, (DM)( 2), which is a mobile manipulator designed to operate in a lunar stati on scenario. (DM)(2) is designed to perform two very different kinds o f tasks: exploration on the lunar terrain, and maintenance work in lun ar manufacturing plants. Both tasks are essential during the early con struction of a lunar station. In order to be able to competently perfo rm both tasks, (DM)(2) embodies a modular hardware design--namely a mo bile base, and a detachable, symmetric manipulator arm with exchangeab le grippers at each end. (DM)(2) can work with a number of possibly di fferent arms, each of which may use several kinds of specialized detac hable end-effecters. This flexible hardware configuration enables the robot to be useful for many different kinds of operations on a lunar b ase. In turn, this flexibility of hardware configuration necessitates a software control architecture that is equally flexible--allowing for on-the-fly reconfiguration, and independence of high-level functional ity from the details of the current hardware configuration. (DM)(2) is designed to perform its tasks either autonomously based on a task mod el and realtime vision system, or under the supervision of a human ope rator through a custom realtime teleoperation interface. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.