This conference which was originally planned as workshop took place on October 19 to 22, 1998 in St-Hubert, Montréal. The idea of a conference devoted to Space Robotics matured when two IFAC Technical Committees, Aerospace Control and Robotics decided to co-sponsor such an event. The final decision converged with technological maturity of Space Robotics itself. It became obvious that robotics is a unique but viable technology that can be used in Space exploration. Robotics is the intelligent connection of perception to action. This broad definition of robotics encompasses both science and technology. In the early days, the changing technology in manufacturing was driving the development in robotics. New manufacturing technology required new, economical and efficient methods of production. Development was geared towards robots in the form of manipulators. In later years, the development was driven by demand in service industry, military and special applications. One of those special applications is related to Space and its exploration. The rapid development in Space related technologies brought forward questions about the need for automation technologies that would allow for operations in Space in an efficient and safe way. Some Space operations could not have possibly been done without extensive use of automation and especially robotics. There are numerous robotics meetings and conferences across the world but it became obvious that the meetings addressing particular problems in space robotics would be useful and helpful. The Program Committee tried to include in conference presentations all specific fields of robotics that are important in Space applications. On manipulators' side, kinematics, manipulation, dexterity, sensors and control systems have been covered. On mobile robots' side new control techniques, telerobotics, nonholonomic systems, and trajectory planning have been considered. Also, applications and Space operations have been reviewed. Altogether 30 papers were selected and accepted by the International Organizing Committee. Papers were presented in 8 sessions in three days. There were also three keynote speeches presented by invited speakers and three distinguished speakers to present keynote lectures on three separate occasions. Speakers were chosen in order to give a broad overview of space robotics activities in all involved countries. Participants came from Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, United Kingdom and the USA. In day 1, eight papers were presented in two sessions. Session 1 was related to Dextrous Robots and Session 2 to Mobile Robots (Part 1 and 2). Day 2 included a keynote speech on the topic of "Robotics and On-Board Autonomy: For What and How Far Can We Go?", followed by Session 3: Robot Controllers and Session 4: Vision Systems and Control. Day 3 consisted of 5 sessions, Session 5: Manipulation Control, Session 6: Kinematics, Session 7: Nonholonomic Systems, Session 8: Space Operation (Part 1 and Part 2).

The book presents the most recent developments of laboratory studies in astrophysics and space research. The individual chapters review laboratory investigations under simulated space conditions, studies for the design of successful space experiments or for supporting the interpretation of astronomical and space mission recorded data. Related theoretical models, numerical simulations and in situ observations demonstrate the necessity of experimental work on the Earth's surface. The expertise of the contributing scientists covers a broad spectrum and is included in general overviews from fundamental science to recent space technology. The book intends to serve as a reference for researchers and graduate students on the most recent activities and results in laboratory astrophysics, and to give reviews of their applications in astronomy, planetology, cosmochemistry, space research and Solar System exploration.

Proceedings of Robotics 98: Third Specialty Conference on Robotics for Challenging Environments, held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, April 26-30, 1998. This collection contains 49 papers discussing research into robotic technologies and application of those technologies in a variety of challenging environments. Topics include: design and control of flexible manipulators; path planning for mobile robots; sensing and modeling of unknown environments; applications in hazardous environments on Earth; applications in construction; mobile systems and rovers; robotics in education; operator interfaces; and technology transfer.

Tethered Space Robot: Dynamics, Measurement, and Control discusses a novel tethered space robot (TSR) system that contains the space platform, flexible tether and gripper. TSR can capture and remove non-cooperative targets such as space debris. It is the first time the concept has been described in a book, which describes the system and mission design of TSR and then introduces the latest research on pose measurement, dynamics and control. The book covers the TSR system, from principle to applications, including a complete implementing scheme. A useful reference for researchers, engineers and students interested in space robots, OOS and debris removal. - Provides for the first time comprehensive coverage of various aspects of tethered space robots (TSR) - Presents both fundamental principles and application technologies including pose measurement, dynamics and control - Describes some new control techniques, including a coordinated control method for tracking optimal trajectory, coordinated coupling control and coordinated approaching control using mobile tether attachment points

Robot manipulators are developing more in the direction of industrial robots than of human workers. Recently, the applications of robot manipulators are spreading their focus, for example Da Vinci as a medical robot, ASIMO as a humanoid robot and so on. There are many research topics within the field of robot manipulators, e.g. motion planning, cooperation with a human, and fusion with external sensors like vision, haptic and force, etc. Moreover, these include both technical problems in the industry and theoretical problems in the academic fields. This book is a collection of papers presenting the latest research issues from around the world.

Soviet Robots in the Solar System provides a history of the Soviet robotic lunar and planetary exploration program from its inception, with the attempted launch of a lunar impactor on September 23, 1958, to the last launch in the Russian national scientific space program in the 20th Century, Mars 96, on November 16, 1996. This title makes a unique contribution to understanding the scientific and engineering accomplishments of the Soviet Union’s robotic space exploration enterprise from its infancy to its demise with the collapse of the Soviet Union. The authors provide a comprehensive account of Soviet robotic exploration of the Solar System for both popular space enthusiasts and professionals in the field. Technical details and science results are provided and put into an historical and political perspective in a single volume for the first time. The book is divided into two parts. Part I describes the key players and the key institutions that build and operate the hardware, the rockets that provide access to space, and the spacecraft that carry out the enterprise. Part II is about putting these pieces together to enable space flight and mission campaigns. Part II is written in chronological order beginning with the first launches to the Moon. Each chapter covers a particular period when specific mission campaigns were undertaken during celestially-determined launch windows. Each chapter begins with a short overview of the flight missions that occurred during the time period and the political and historical context for the flight mission campaigns, including what the Americans were doing at the time. The bulk of each chapter is devoted to the scientific and engineering details of that flight campaign. The spacecraft and payloads are examined with as much technical detail as is available today, the progress is described, and a synopsis of the scientific result is given.

This book provides readers with basic concepts and design theories for space robots and presents essential methodologies for implementing space robot engineering by introducing several concrete projects as illustrative examples. Readers will gain a comprehensive understanding of professional theories in the field of space robots, and will find an initial introduction to the engineering processes involved in developing space robots. Rapid advances in technologies such as the Internet of Things, Cloud Computing, and Artificial Intelligence have also produced profound changes in space robots. With the continuous expansion of human exploration of the universe, it is imperative for space robots to be capable of sharing knowledge, working collaboratively, and becoming more and more intelligent so as to optimize the utilization of space resources. For on-orbit robots that perform service tasks such as spacecraft assembly and maintenance, as well as exploration robots that carry out research tasks on planetary surfaces, the rational integration into a network system can greatly improve their capabilities in connection with executing outer space tasks, such as information gathering and utilization, independent decision-making and planning, risk avoidance, and reliability, while also significantly reducing resource consumption for the system as a whole.

Paolo Ulivi and David Harland provide in Robotic Exploration of the Solar System a detailed history of unmanned missions of exploration of our Solar System. The subject is treated from an engineering and scientific standpoint. Technical descriptions of the spacecraft, of their mission designs and of instrumentations are provided. Scientific results are discussed in considerable depth, together with details of mission management. The project will deliver four volumes totaling over 2,000 pages that will provide comprehensive coverage of the topic with thousands of references to the professional literature that should make it the 'first port of call' for people seeking information on the topic. The books will cover missions from the 1950s until the present day, and some of the latest missions and their results will appear in a popular science book for the first time.

Explores the worlds of rocketry, engineering, public policy, and science fantasy to expound upon the possibilities and improbabilities involved in trekking across the Milky Way and beyond.

Experimental robotics is at the core of validating robotics research for both its system science and theoretical foundations. Robotics experiments serve as a unifying theme for robotics system science and theoretical foundations. This book collects papers on the state of the art in experimental robotics. The papers were presented at the 2000 International Symposium on Experimental Robotics.