Human-robot cooperation in space: SM/sup 2/ for new space station structure

The self-mobile space manipulator (SM/sup 2/) is a seven-DOF inspection robot, capable of walking along the pre-integrated I-beam truss structure of Space Station Freedom (SSF). The robot is capable of projecting cameras anywhere interior or exterior of the SSF, and will be an ideal tool for inspecting connectors, structures, and other facilities on the SSF. Using a full-scale model of a small segment of the SSF, experiments have been performed under two gravity compensation systems.