STEPS (Sistemi e Tecnologie per l’EsPlorazione Spaziale): Predictive and Command System (PCS), results on 1st Demonstration

The aim of this paper is to present the results obtained by the STEPS' cluster “Human Machine Interaction” during the first year of research. It describes the design of a working prototype, applied to an EVA Rescue Use Case, that validates the Predictive and Command System of the overall HMI architecture, capable to guarantee a sufficient level of situational awareness to the human operator by providing him/her with feedbacks about the tasks currently carried on and with information about both its internal status and the surrounding environment. A sliding autonomy approach was followed. Human machine interaction is bidirectional and each of the two actors can take the initiative for an interaction; complex tasks have to be represented in a structured way by decomposing a high level task into subtasks until to more primitive commands. In space exploration, it is necessary to integrate steps of on-line planning with parts devoted to the actual execution of the task, by providing the system with the capability of reacting to some contingencies, re-planning an action when possible or asking help to human in case of impasse. This approach can augment the operator control, and, by sharing Human and Robotic capabilities, it is possible to predict results and to achieve or negotiate a predefined goal reducing the Ground Support’s needs.