NASA darts toward the future with new robot
April 10, 1996
Web posted at: 8:15 p.m. EDT
From Correspondent Kathy Nellis
JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, Texas (CNN) -- NASA engineers are fine-tuning a new robot, the Dexterous Anthropomorphic Robotic Testbed, or DART, at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. (595K QuickTime movie)
As DART says itself (179K AIFF sound or 179K WAV sound), the robot has two six-jointed arms; dexterous robotic hands; and two cameras for eyes.
DART is the centerpiece of a virtual reality control system that attempts to put the operator inside the robot.
"It's almost like a spirit coming out of the body walking right into the robot and you controlling from the robot's perspective," said DART project manager Larry Li. "I lift up my hands and no longer see my own hands, but I see the robot's hands."
What DART sees through the cameras is what the controller sees through a virtual reality helmet. DART is controlled by the engineer's body movements and by voice commands.
The eventual goal of the DART program to operate a robot in place of people in hazardous situations. The potential uses run the gamut from laying cables underwater to making repairs in space.
In the lab, DART copies the movements of its controller. While operators move in a virtual world, they actually interact with the real world because DART can perform real tasks -- from grasping objects to fitting them into snug spaces.
The beauty of the system is that it reads the body's natural movements. For example, DART can tie a knot easily. But there are still obstacles to overcome.
"Probably the most challenging thing is that you don't feel what you are touching," said robotics engineer Susan Shelton. "We have depth perception and stereo vision, but it's not as good as our own depth perception."
To help, NASA plans to add a sense of touch.
NASA engineers hope astronauts will be able to use DART by the year 2000 or 2001.
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