Charles Redmond
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                                                
May 14, 1993
(Phone:  202/358-1757)                                                                       
Noon

Michael Mewhinney
Ames Research Center, Mountain View, Calif.
(Phone:  415/604-9000)


RELEASE:  93-84

NASA AMES TO DRIVE RUSSIAN ROBOT VIA SATELLITE

   Scientists at NASA's Ames Research Center, Mountain View, 
Calif., will use a satellite video link, provided by Brown 
University, next week to try to maneuver a Russian robotic "rover" 
in a Moscow laboratory.  This test is being conducted at the 
request of McDonnell Douglas Space Systems.

   "We will be steering the rover around remotely," said Project 
Leader Dr. Butler Hine, an Ames electrical engineer.  "We will be 
able to see through the rover's cameras and also through cameras 
looking at the rover," Hine said.

   Hine will use a "telepresence interface" developed at Ames to 
control the prototype of a rover which Russian scientists hope to 
land on Mars in 1996.  Hine will wear a video headset and use head 
movements to point the rover's camera.  He will use joysticks to 
steer the rover.

   The objective of this test is to verify that this technology 
could be used in future missions such as Mars 96.

   During the tests, NASA scientists will use the same technology 
they used in February to test the rover when Russian scientists 
visited Ames.

   "During their visit, we drove the rover around our lunar 
terrain simulation and controlled it from our laboratory," Hine 
said.

   "We call this a 'tele-operator interface' because it is a 
combination of virtual reality and telepresence," he said.  "We 
can drive the vehicle by looking through the rover's cameras, 
which is telepresence.  We also can drive it using a 
computer-generated graphic simulation, which is virtual reality," 
Hine said.

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   Hine said the "tele-operator interface" is designed to be a 
general purpose control mechanism for robotic vehicles.  "So far, 
we have controlled surface rovers, underwater vehicles in the 
Antarctic and now the Russian rover," Hine said.

   Hine will have a model of the Russian test environment as well 
as a model of the rover at Ames.  Depending on weather conditions, 
the Russians may test the rover outdoors or in a laboratory.

   "This is a team effort," Hine said.  "There's a large group of 
people at McDonnell Douglas and a large group of people here at 
Ames working together.  Hine calls this project a good example of 
technology transfer between the federal government and private 
industry.

   "We've been doing a series of experiments with McDonnell 
Douglas over the past month to prepare for this test.  They are 
benefiting from the technology transfer.

   "We've had experience operating long-haul links to the 
Antarctic, so we don't expect any major barriers," Hine said.  "It 
is costing us almost nothing," Hine said.  "We're re-using the 
infrastructure developed for other projects."

   Scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute 
for Space Research and the Russian Space Agency also will 
participate in the test.

   Hine is the Project Leader at Ames, and John Garvey is the 
project leader at McDonnell Douglas.

                             - end -

Editors Note:  Video and photos of the Russian rover are available 
by calling the NASA Headquarters Broadcast And Imaging Branch at 
202/358-1741.

Color                                                 B&W
93-HC-181                                        93-H-194