EVA and Dexterous Robotics: Partnerships for Effective Space Operations

By current projections, the requirement for extravehicular operations will increase exponentially in the eras of International Space Station and planned human exploration of Mars. The best hope in meeting this rapidly growing need is in exploiting the complementary capabilities of humans and dexterous robots for performing advanced space operations, including space station maintenance, lunar or Mars base construction, and extended planetary surface exploration. This paper details a number of approaches to human/robotic cooperation, based on past, current, and near-term simulations. Results to date clearly indicate that human/robot teams, working closely together, provide significantly greater productivity than either component working alone.