Description: Space operations are undergoing a paradigm shift towards persistent assets in space, supported by coordinated, adjustable human-robot partnerships. Such partnerships require enabling technologies which can: support co-design of reference missions, partner robots and novel human-robot teaming paradigms to assist in integrated mission planning and execution. To address these challenges, SoarTech, along with partner SimDynamX, propose Co-STAR (Co-design of Shared Tasking with human and Autonomous Robot teams), an innovative approach to human-robot teaming to support development and testing of integrated human-autonomous robot team mission planning and execution for persistent operations in space. Our toolset will include a cognitive autonomy architecture, alongside the task representation and concurrent analysis of robot capabilities within a reference space mission to facilitate the human-machine team. The effort will focus on a reference mission to validate the approach and supporting tools. Our approach is to augment and extend an existing flexible task representation, Hierarchical Task Network to support shared human-robot tasks and task allocation, augment and extend an existing SoarTech cognitive autonomy architecture to support seamless human-robot partnership, and develop a parametric capability analysis process, using an existing SDX high-fidelity simulation for collaborative space operations to assist in co-design of robot capabilities simultaneously with reference missions. The result is a toolset that allows for the exploration of the aspects of human-autonomous robot partnerships and, and the supporting iterative design of missions and capabilities in support of actual operations.

Benefits: NASA is preparing for a future of persistent robots in space, supported by coordinated, mixed human-robot partnerships

The proposed technology will be adaptable for DoD/AF logistical application, enabling the loadmaster and the autonomy to co-plan and execute the loading plan. As this technology matures, we will plan discussions with Air Mobility Command. Commercial applications are in the construction industry where autonomous vehicle are beginning to be used.