Path-Planning for Autonomous Training on Robot Manipulators in Space

This paper describes the integration of robot path-planning and spatial task modeling into a software system that teaches the operation of a robot manipulator deployed on International Space Station (ISS). The system addresses the complexity of the manipulator, the limited direct view of the ISS exterior and the unpredictability of lighting conditions in the workspace. Robot path planning is used not for controlling the manipulator, but for automatically checking errors of a student learning to operate the manipulator and for automatically producing illustrations of good and bad motions in training.