Timothy Ohm

The Rocky 7 rover: a Mars sciencecraft prototype

This paper describes the design and implementation at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of a small rover for future Mars missions requiring long traverses and rover-based science experiments. The small rover prototype, called Rocky 7, is capable of long traverses, autonomous navigation, and science instrument control. This rover carries three science instruments, and can be commanded from any computer platform from any location using the World Wide Web. In this paper we describe the mobility system, the sampling system, the sensor suite, navigation and control, onboard science instruments, and the ground command and control system. We also present key accomplishments of a recent field test of Rocky 7 in the Mojave Desert in California.

The Rocky 7 Mars rover prototype

This paper provides a system overview of a new Mars rover prototype, Rocky 7. We describe all system aspects: mechanical and electrical design, computer and software infrastructure, algorithms for navigation and manipulation, science data acquisition, and outdoor rover testing. In each area, the improved or added functionality is explained in a context of its path to flight, and need within the constraints of desired science missions.

Rocky 7: a next generation Mars rover prototype

This paper provides a system overview of a new Mars rover prototype, Rocky 7. We describe all system aspects: mechanical and electrical design, computer and software infrastructure, algorithms for navigation and manipulation, science data acquisition, and outdoor rover testing. In each area, the improved or added functionality is explained in a context of its path to flight and within the constraints of desired science missions.

Dexterity-enhanced telerobotic microsurgery

A telerobotic platform developed in a collaboration between NASA-JPL and MicroDexterity Systems, Inc (MDS) is described in this paper. The lightweight, compact 6 dof master-slave system is precise to better than 10 microns and can cover a workspace greater than 400 cubic centimeters. Current capabilities of the system include manual position control with augmented shared control modes and automatic modes of control of the robot. Simulated force feedback on the master device has been implemented and plans are to integrate force reflection from the slave end effector and evaluate the performance improvements enabled by the telerobot in simulated microsurgical tasks. The telerobot was used in a recent demonstration of a simulated eye microsurgical procedure.

The JPL Serpentine Robot: a 12-DOF system for inspection

The Serpentine Robot is a prototype hyper-redundant (snake-like) manipulator system developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It is designed to navigate and perform tasks in obstructed and constrained environments in which conventional 6-DOF manipulators cannot similarly function. This paper describes the Serpentine Robot mechanical design, a low level inverse kinematic algorithm for the joint assembly, a brief synopsis of control development to date, and the applications of this technology.

A New Robot for High Dexterity Microsurgery

We report the development of a new six degree-of-freedom (d.o.f.) manipulator. This robot and its task-space controls enable relative tip positioning to better than 25 microns over a singularity-free work volume exceeding 20 cubic centimeters. By virtue of an innovative cable drive design, the robot has zero backlash in five joints and can sustain full extent loads of over three pounds. The robot is applicable to both fine motion manipulation of microsurgical tools and also dexterous handling of larger powered devices for minimally invasive surgery. Our current development emphasis is a teleoperated system for dexterity-enhanced microsurgeries; we believe the new robot will also have useful applications in computer assisted surgeries, e.g. image-guided therapies. In this brief paper, we outline the robot mechanical design, controls implementation, and preliminary evaluations. Our accompanying oral presentation includes a five minute videotape that illustrates engineering laboratory results achieved to date.

A prototype manipulation system for Mars rover science operations

This paper provides an overview of a new manipulation system developed for sampling and instrument placement from small autonomous mobile robots for Mars exploration. Selected out of the design space, two manipulators have been constructed and integrated into the Rocky 7 Mars rover prototype. This paper describes the design objectives and constraints for these manipulators, and presents the finished system and some results from its operation.

Telerobotics for microsurgery

A telerobotic workstation for microsurgery has been developed that enables scaling down motions and filtering tremor in a surgeons hand. The system is compact and light-weight and has the potential for improving the performance of all surgeons and enabling the development of new surgical procedures currently limited by the dexterity of even the most skilful surgeons.