NASA STTR 2009 Solicitation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (SBC):		RESEARCH INSTITUTION (RI):
NAME:	TRACLabs Inc.	NAME:	Carnegie Mellon University - Silicon Valley
STREET:	8610 N. New Braunfels, Suite 110	STREET:	NASA Research Park, Bldg 23
CITY:	San Antonio	CITY:	Moffett Field
STATE/ZIP:	TX  78217 - 6370	STATE/ZIP:	CA  94305 - 2823
PHONE:	(210) 822-2310	PHONE:	(650) 335-2823

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Debra Schreckenghost
schreck@traclabs.com
8610 N. New Braunfels, Suite 110
San Antonio, TX 78217 - 6370
(281) 461-7884

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 2
End: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
3D visualization has proven effective at orienting remote ground controllers about robots operating on a planetary surface. Using such displays, controllers can watch a robot move through surface terrain maps and react to objects in that terrain. Readings taken in the robot's surroundings can be overlaid on terrain maps to improve human understanding. 3D visualization, however, focuses a controller's attention on what is happening in the vicinity of the robot. The effectiveness of visualization at centering attention on the robot means that information not spatially linked to that view could be missed. TRACLabs, Carnegie Mellon University, and Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies propose to develop software for notifying users of 3D visualization about important new information that may not be spatially linked to the current view. We will identify use cases where notification is needed when using 3D visualization and design software for constructing and presenting notices for these use cases. We will evaluate this design for use in K10 rover operations by defining an approach for integrating notification with the Visual Environment for Remote Virtual Exploration (VERVE). The extensive experience of this team in developing advanced software for robotic surface operations will contribute to the timely delivery of the proposed technology.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
NASA has demonstrated in recent analog robotic field tests that 3D visualization is effective for remote supervision of a planetary robot. 3D visualization, however, focuses the controller's attention on what is happening in the vicinity of the robot. The proposed notification technology improves existing 3D visualization by addressing the issue of notifying users about information that may not be spatially linked to the current view. The notification software produced in Phase II will be immediately useful for future analog robotic field tests where VERVE provides 3D robot visualization. Our separation of notice construction from notice presentation should ease integration of the notification software with other 3D visualization software that NASA might use in the future. Longer term, the techniques for determining when to shift the user's attention from the visualization and how to notify without increasing visual clutter should be useful when specifying flight support software for remote robotic operations.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
Using 3D visualization for remote supervision of robots is not unique to NASA. The Department of Defense (DOD) is interested in remote supervision of military robots for surveillance and reconnaissance. 3D visualization of robots for military operations includes supervising multiple robots operating concurrently to accomplish a military objective. In such multi-robot operations, it is essential to shift the user's focus when another robot outside the current field of view requires attention. Thus the proposed technology for notification should be directly applicable to remote supervision of military robots. The separation of notice construction from notice presentation should ease integration of the notification software with whatever 3D visualization software is used by the military. Since the military is actively funding research on human attention shifting and visual de-cluttering of geospatial displays, the proposed approach should be both interesting to a variety of DOD customers and compatible with military robotic operations.

NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING

Autonomous Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence Human-Robotic Interfaces