Page 43 - Introduction to AI Robotics

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a. 1 From Teleoperation To Autonomy
b.

Figure 1.5 Motivation for intelligent planetary rovers: a.) Astronaut John Young
awkwardly collecting lunar samples on Apollo 16, and b.) Astronaut Jim Irwin stop-
ping the lunar rover as it slides down a hill on Apollo 15. (Photographs courtesy of
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.)

1.4.2 Space robotics and the AI approach

While the rise of industrial manipulators and the engineering approach to
robotics can in some measure be traced to the nuclear arms race, the rise
of the AI approach can be said to start with the space race. On May 25,
1961, spurred by the success of the Soviet Union’s Sputnik space programs,
President John F. Kennedy announced that United States would put a man
on the moon by 1970. Walking on the moon was just one aspect of space
exploration. There were concerns about the Soviets setting up military bases
on the Moon and Mars and economic exploitation of planetary resources.
Clearly there was going to be a time lag of almost a decade before humans
from the USA would go to the Moon. And even then, it would most likely be
with experimental spacecraft, posing a risk to the human astronauts. Even
without the risk to humans, the bulk of spacesuits would make even triv-
ial tasks difficult for astronauts to perform. Fig. 1.5a shows astronaut John
Young on Apollo 16 collecting samples with a lunar rake. The photo shows
the awkward way the astronaut had to bend his body and arms to complete
the task.
Planetary rovers were a possible solution, either to replace an astronaut or
assist him or her. Unfortunately, rover technology in the 1960’s was limited.
Because of the time delays, a human would be unable to safely control a rover
over the notoriously poor radio links of the time, even if the rover went very