Tech Briefs Magazine - April 2024 - MD-24

rather than repeating the process for each
subproblem. For instance, in a warehouse
with 800 robots, decongesting a group of
40 robots requires holding the other 760
robots as constraints. Other approaches
require reasoning about all 800 robots
once per group in each iteration.
Instead, the researchers' approach only
requires reasoning about the 800 robots
once across all groups in each iteration.
" The warehouse is one big setting, so a lot
of these robot groups will have some
shared aspects of the larger problem. We
designed our architecture to make use of
this common information, " she added.
They tested their technique in several
simulated environments, including
some set up like warehouses, some with
random obstacles, and even maze-like
settings that emulate building interiors.
By identifying more effective groups to
decongest, their learning-based approach
decongests the warehouse up to four times
faster than strong, non-learning-based approaches.
Even when they factored in the
additional computational overhead of running
the neural network, their approach
still solved the problem 3.5 times faster.
In the future, the researchers want to
derive simple, rule-based insights from
their neural model, since the decisions
of the neural network can be opaque and
difficult to interpret. Simpler, rule-based
methods could also be easier to implement
and maintain in actual
robotic
warehouse settings.
For more information, contact Abby
Abazorius at abbya@mit.edu; 617-2532709.
Tri-Rotor
Steering Wheel Yields Programmable
Vehicular Control
The device allows piloting a lunar terrain vehicle using only the hands.
Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
I
nnovators at NASA Johnson Space
Center have developed a programmable
steering wheel called the Tri-Rotor,
which allows an astronaut the ability to
easily operate a vehicle on the surface
of a planet or Moon despite the limited
dexterity of their spacesuit. This technology
was originally conceived for the
operation of a lunar terrain vehicle
(LTV) to improve upon previous Apolloera
hand controllers. In re-evaluating
the kinematics of the spacesuit, such as
the rotatable wrist joint and the constant
volume shoulder joint, engineers
developed an enhanced and programmable
hand controller that became the
Tri-Rotor.
The design consists of two slotted handles
that rotate independently within
opposite sides of the Tri-Rotor mainbody.
Each handle is programmable and
can rotate 45 degrees. In this iteration,
the right handle rotates counterclockwise
and acts as an accelerator and
brake. The left handle rotates both
clockwise and counterclockwise and
controls crabbing whereby the vehicles
rear wheels turn in the same direction as
the front wheels facilitating diagonal or
possibly lateral movement.
The main-body of the Tri-Rotor rotates
upon a central pivot like an automotive
steering wheel and can provide
directional input for Ackermann-like
steering. The handles on the Tri-Rotor
are designed with spacesuit kinematics
in mind and are operated using the pronated
and supinated motions of the astronauts
hands allowed by the wrist
bearings between the glove and the
forearm of the spacesuit.
These elements mean that an operator
would only have to use their hands
for directional and throttle controls. To
combat fatigue during vehicular operation,
the Tri-Rotor allows the astronaut
to support their hands on special protrusions
located on the outside of the control
handles.
Due to the programmable nature of
A suited astronaut tests the user interface of a Tri-Rotor steering wheel prototype. (Image: NASA)
24
the Tri-Rotor, it may have commercial
applications in any industry that utilizes a
control stick, steering wheel, or yoke. The
device may be especially useful in hazardous
environments where operators clad
in protective gear have limited dexterity.
NASA is actively seeking licensees to
commercialize this technology. Please
contact NASA's Licensing Concierge at
Agency-Patent-Licensing@mail.nasa.gov
or call at 202-358-7432 to initiate licensing
discussions. For more information,
visit https://technology.nasa.gov/
patent/MSC-TOPS-122.
Motion Design, April 2024

https://technology.nasa.gov/patent/MSC-TOPS-122

Tech Briefs Magazine - April 2024

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