The Project explores new ways of tele-operating robots on the surface of the moon from an orbiting station.

 The Sky is the limit? Not for ESA, the European Space Agency! Outer space and distant planet research and curiosity drives ESA. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Krüger from the Human Robot Interaction Lab at the ESA in the Netherlands is developing technologies for robotic exploration with his research team.

On the question on how to drive a lunar Rover over the moon’s surface and to gather rock samples with it, ESA was looking for a Joystick with force feedback and came across BRUNNER’s control loaded CLS-P Joystick, which offers excellent fidelity and force feedback abilities.

First tests of the setup, the Joystick controls fidelity and feedback, are done in the Lab and the idea is to have the Joystick transfer feedback like traction on the surface, hitting obstacles and using adjustable force and travel curves to have better haptic feeling on the rover’s behaviour in the flour like sand on the moon. With its open Software Interface ESA is integrating the Joystick in their Software environment based on C/C++ and auto generated code from Simulink.

The Project, called Analog-1, has the goal to explore new ways to teleoperate robots that are in “close proximity” e.g. a robot on the moon controlled from an orbiting space station like the planned Lunar Gateway. Until that infrastructure is in place the International Space Station (ISS) is the ideal testbed for those technologies under real conditions. Thus the analog: controlling a robot on earth from the ISS. Even here the signal latency via satellite relays is about one second and thus still suitable for teleoperation.

BRUNNER is proud to have ESA as one of our many trusted partners. Soon perhaps not only on earth, but in outer space on the International Space Station ISS.

If you want to learn more about this project and the contribution which the CLS-P Joystick   provides, please contact us at sales@brunner-innovation.swiss. We will come back to you.