Soon, remote-controlled rovers will be able to operate on the Moon, and human controllers on Earth will virtually manipulate the rover’s instruments, allowing for greater dexterity when sampling, digging or assembling.

Researchers from the Robotics Laboratory at the University of Bristol in the UK tested their new teleoperation system at the European Space Agency’s (ESA) European Space Applications and Telecommunications Center in Harwell, Oxfordshire. Using a virtual simulation of the rover, they were able to manipulate a robotic arm to excavate a sample of artificial lunar regolith (the so-called simulator). This process eliminates the need for a camera feed, which can be delayed by a 1.3-second delay between the Earth and the Moon. Signals between teleoperators and robotic lunar missions could be transmitted in the future by satellites belonging to ESA’s planned Moonlight project.

“This simulation could help us control lunar missions remotely from Earth and eliminate the problem of signal delay,” Bristol’s Joe Luca said in a statement.

The virtual simulation also includes “haptic” interactions. In other words, it simulates the tactile properties of the lunar regolith in the Moon’s low gravity conditions, giving the user a sense of touch. This gives TV operators a better idea of ​​how much force they need to apply to excavate regolith or lift a sample from a bucket. So far, haptic interactions have only been included in virtual versions of basic tasks like pushing regolith into the ground or dragging a bucket through it, but not yet for more complex tasks.

“In this model, we can adjust the gravity and provide haptic feedback, so we can give astronauts an idea of ​​how lunar dust will feel and behave on the Moon, which has one-sixth the gravity of Earth,” he said. Luke

The system could also be used to train astronauts who will one day go to the moon, giving them a realistic simulation of what to expect.

“One option could be for astronauts to use this simulation to prepare for future lunar exploration missions,” Luca said.

But Luca says there are trust issues to overcome before that can happen. Previous research has shown that there is a psychological barrier to trusting whether a user-controlled virtual system is working as it should.

Luka’s team measured the efficiency and reliability of their virtual system and found that the system was 100% efficient and 92.5% reliable when collecting the regolith simulator. Pouring the simulant from the crucible was slightly less reliable, but they found that this could be done more accurately by limiting the direction of the crucible when inserting the simulant.

Although designed with the Moon in mind, in principle the same teleoperation techniques could be used on Mars missions. This could be especially useful for challenging missions such as retrieving sample tubes from the rover and loading them onto another vehicle that would take off from Mars and return the samples to Earth.

When the budget and schedule for NASA’s ongoing project to send samples to Mars spiraled out of control, the space agency turned to industry for help developing a solution. Rocket Lab recently won a contract to conduct detailed research on a possible solution to retrieve samples from the Perseverance rover, but it may be too early for teleoperation. However, other sample return missions and exploration missions to the Moon, Mars, and other rocky bodies such as asteroids may benefit from teleoperation in the future.

“Over the next decade, we will see a variety of missions to the Moon, both manned and unmanned, such as NASA’s Artemis program and China’s Chang’e program,” Luca said. “This simulation can be a valuable tool to support the preparation or execution of these missions.”