The NASA Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) has successfully field tested an “astronaut smart glove” for exploration of the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
The prototype for a human-machine interface (HuMI) allows cosmonauts to wirelessly operate robotic assets—including drones—via simple hand gestures.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration last month unveiled new Artemis Generation spacesuits, designed to keep people comfortable and safe on the Moon’s surface.
But, as SETI Institute pointed out, spacesuits will likely “remain fundamentally cumbersome,” limiting the dexterity and precision with which interstellar travelers perform tasks.
“A smart glove-equipped spacesuit could be a solution,” Pascal Lee, a planetary scientist with SETI and the Mars Institute, said in a statement.
The smart glove technology, developed by Ntention, was integrated into a concept spacesuit for Moon and Mars exploration (via Haughton-Mars Project/Pascal Lee)
“With it,” he continued, “astronauts could easily control a range of robotic assets, making science and exploration operations on the Moon, Mars, and at other destinations more effective and productive.”
Startup Ntention, run by students at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, developed the smart glove tested in HMP’s 2019 field campaign.
“Our philosophy is to create technology that makes human-machine interfacing intuitive and seamless,” Ntention COO Moina Medboe Tamuly said. “Now, we are excited to see that our technology has potential applications in space exploration.”
After seeing a demonstration of the glove for terrestrial applications, Lee suggested it could be applied to an astronaut’s spacesuit.
“When I first saw Ntention’s smart glove in action, I immediately thought of Arthur C. Clarke’s Third Law: ‘Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,'” Lee said.
The Ntention team accepted his challenge, with Tamuly as lead designer for a prototype that uses a microcontroller to read subtle motions, which are transferred to a mobile device to control a robot.
The smart glove was integrated into an existing Collins Aerospace concept spacesuit and put through a series of field tests involving the tele-operation of commercial drones.
“Astronauts on the Moon or Mars will want to fly drones for various reasons,” Lee explained. “For instance, to collect a sample that is out of reach or that needs to be isolated from contamination. Or to assist in a search and rescue operation.”
Other uses include surveying, mapping, sampling, scouting, fetching, and inspecting.
Further evaluation of the Astronaut Smart Glove for Moon and Mars exploration will continue—specifically with applications to control other types of robotic assets, including robotic manipulators and rovers.
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