Demonstrating Trustworthiness in Open-Loop Model Mediated Teleoperation for Collecting Lunar Regolith Simulant^*

Teleoperated robotics will be an essential tool to support upcoming lunar exploration and in-situ resource utilisation activities. However, the communication delays between Earth and the Moon makes operating these robots extremely challenging. Model-Mediated Teleoperation (MMT) is a method of controlling these remote systems in perceived real-time, via a simulation, but is dependent on the accuracy of its model. In this work, a computationally efficient model of lunar regolith was implemented in an open-loop MMT system. The behaviour of the virtual model was compared with its physical equivalent during manipulation tasks. The model predicted the outcome of a regolith simulant scooping task with sufficient accuracy to be considered effective and trustworthy 100% and 92.5% of the time, respectively. Pouring actions were less accurate, but trustworthiness and effectiveness can still be ensured by restricting the orientation of the end effector whilst carrying simulant material. Simulated haptic interactions were representative of the real-world during simple, linear tasks (pressing and dragging), but not during more complex motions. This simulation could be adapted to account for reduced gravity, to form a delay-robust lunar MMT system, or to build operators’ trust in the system by familiarising themselves in a low-risk virtual world.