The purpose of this project was to show the feasibility of adding intelligence to a telerobot. It builds on thefirm's prior research done with the National Bureau of Standards in having a robot use lettered blocks to spellcertain words. During that research, it was shown that a learning model can be built. This project takes the stepof robotic inspection and maintenance of the Space Station. Its purpose was to demonstrate a system that couldhandle unexpected events. In Phase I, the project simulated a satellite floating through space with an attachedrobot performing a maintenance or replacement task. In the simulation, the satellite part that needed replacementis not exactly where it was expected to be. Intelligence in the robot is needed to guide the robot to the correctlocation. Through a demonstration at the NASA MSFC, it was shown that the robot could use reasoning todirect itself to a new location, illustrating how a robot could use intelligence and heuristics to replan and find an alternate approach to locate the part.Potential Commercial Application:Intelligent tele-robots could be used for inspection and maintenance of nuclear reactors and associated equipment. They could also be used in the aircraft industry for maintenance.Note: no official Abstract listing exists of selected NASA Phase II SBIR projects for this year. Hence, this abstract is modified by idi from relevant Phase I data. The specific Phase II work statement and objectives may differ.
