EMDV8008 Research Proposal: Importance of Using Robots in Space

Introduction 

In this study, the outline of the research project has been mentioned which plans to evaluate the importance of using robots in space. A brief outline about the robotic history related to space has been provided and the aim and objective of the project has been mentioned. The methodologies for conducting the research has been mentioned in the study.

Background 

Robots have assisted humans in innovation for decades now. Their benefits on our lives is immeasurable. Space is a place where humans have limited functions, but with robots with a number of sizes, sensors and the ability to stay in an environment without oxygen is promising enough to use them in the mentioned environment extensively (Vonásek et al. 2013).

Research Aims and Objectives 

The research objectives and aims are directed at getting information about the uses of robotics in space. The research will help expert and specialists related to the specific field to gain an insight about the usage of robots in space exploration and what types of technologies they are using in space.

The research objectives of the proposal are written as follows:-

To find information about the robots in space environment

To find out different types of space robots

To evaluate and assess their technologies

Research Questions 

The research questions are written as follows:-

How the robots are operating in space?

What are the different types of robots that are operating in space?

What are the technologies that are used in the robots of this particular domain?

Methodology

Data collection and justification 

For conducting a research, information is important. Two types of data are present that are needed to classify data.  Keeping in mind the collector of the information, the first type is referred as primary data and the second type is referred as secondary data.  The information that are collected and analysed by the researcher himself is called as primary data. Some of the examples of primary data are interviews, questionnaires and surveys. Secondary data is referred to the information that is collected from articles, websites and journals. Both secondary as well as primary data is needed to conduct a research efficiently (Fernández and González 2013). The researcher can rely on primary data from the surveys for the research and can cross check it with the secondary data that is collected from the published journals and books.

For the proposed research, both secondary as well as primary data are needed for conducting the survey appropriately (Xu et al. 2016). Online surveys need to be conducted with professors and professionals who are related to this field of research.  The targeted audience need to be asked with open end questions for conducting the data analysis thoroughly. For conducting an effective communication, the researcher needs to be aware of certain aspect of the research that he or she needs to be aware from the secondary sources of data (Dalibard et al. 2013). The employees and people related to space organisations such as NASA can be contacted online or through a telephonic conversation to understand the usage of robots in various aspects of space exploration. Other secondary sources can be evaluated such as the official sites of NASA, space x and more to get a better insight into the working of the robots (Huang et al. 2016). The technical journals on age old space technologies can be assessed and evaluated with the current journals of the space robots which will help to analyse the situation properly (Xu et al. 2016). The advantages of robots over human in the space environment can be researched from the internet sources. Peer reviewed journals will be researched as well and books related to space exploration needs to be assessed. The journals related to the achievements of space exploration need to be evaluated as well.

Sampling method and justification

For this proposed research process, two research types need to be evaluated:

Probability, and

Non probability

In the sampling method of probability, respondents are chosen at random and the total response of the group is noted down. In the non-probability mode if sampling, the respondents are selected and specific for the research. For conducting the research appropriately, the research process is targeted (Xu et al. 2016).

In this research proposal, both probability as well as non-probability sampling methods need to be chosen. The varieties of space robots needs to be assessed from various perspectives of professionals. The non-probability method will be utilized when the data analysis needs to be conducted with certain specific people like aeronautics engineers and employees of a particular organisation (Kostavelis et al. 2014). If the interviews are conducted with random people of an institution then the analysis will turn out to be incomprehensive and an overhead analysis will be generated. Some Researchers and experts related to current developments in the field need to be interviews in an open format. Their expertise will be valuable in completing this research proposal. The general employees of the space organisations can be interviewed about how much they know about robots operating in space and what are the ongoing developments in the field (Flores-Abad et al. 2014). This will narrow down our search list of conducting which robots needs to be assessed for the following proposal. Then a non-probability sampling need to be conducted with the targeted individuals about the selected robot to gain a comprehensive analysis of the whole situation. The sampling method will be all-inclusive if the targeted individuals are chosen space organizations.

Data analysis method chosen and justification

For the chosen study, qualitative data analysis as well as quantitative data analysis will be chosen as the appropriate data analysis method. The quantitative analysis will be taken at the first phase of the research analysis. Over 50 professors and professionals from different institutions of the related field will be chosen to understand an overview of the research topic. The basic history and origin of space robots will be analysed from their expertise (Eiben et al. 2016). Next, a list of space robots which are renowned and taking the space exploration forward will be drafted down with their expertise. After getting the overhead analysis of the entre situation, a qualitative research analysis will be conducted on the selected group of individuals from renowned space organisations. 10 employees from NASA and 20 Employees from Space X will be interviewed over telephone or online to get an idea about the selected space robots and the technologies that are incorporated into them (Xu et al. 2016). A comprehensive analysis of the robot technologies used and the future prospects of the situation will be analysed and evaluated as per their expertise (Roehr, Cordes and Kirchner 2014). To prevent unnecessary mathematical and statistical data analysis, the qualitative analysis will be chosen. To draw comprehensive conclusion, the information needs to be analysed, put together and interpreted.

Time Horizon

Results

The final result of the analysis should give a comprehensive analysis of the robots that are operating in space. The interviews from the experts and professors of various organizations will give a rough drafts about the type of robots that are used in space (Jentsch 2016). The usage of robotic arms in medical sciences, the mars rovers and how they can assist people in space will be analysed through the quantitative analysis (Del Prete et al. 2015). The qualitative analysis will help to analyse the use of robots in outer space airlines and the technologies that these robots use.  The technologies used in manned space robots and buoyant robots will be extracted through the evaluation of the personnel from specific organizations. 

Conclusion

To conclude, it can be stated that the proposed proposal will be able to generate the comprehensive analysis of the research topic. The mentioned methodologies are sufficient to evaluate the technology efficiently. Moreover, the analysis methods will help to understand how the robots are beneficial in assisting humans in exploring and understanding space. Both the quantitative and qualitative analysis methods are needed for conducting the study effectively. Also, the use of both sampling methods are needed to get an overall setup of the research topic. The research topic will help to properly evaluate the abuse of robots in space and how they are revolutionising space exploration. The different types of space robots will be analysed and evaluated for the research topic.

References 

Dalibard, S., El Khoury, A., Lamiraux, F., Nakhaei, A., Taïx, M. and Laumond, J.P., 2013. Dynamic walking and whole-body motion planning for humanoid robots: an integrated approach. The International Journal of Robotics Research, 32(9-10), pp.1089-1103.

Del Prete, A., Nori, F., Metta, G. and Natale, L., 2015. Prioritized motion–force control of constrained fully-actuated robots:“Task Space Inverse Dynamics”. Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 63, pp.150-157.

Eiben, A.E., Bredeche, N., Hoogendoorn, M., Stradner, J., Timmis, J., Tyrrell, A. and Winfield, A., 2013. The triangle of life: Evolving robots in real-time and real-space. Advances in artificial life, ECAL, 2013, p.1056.

Fernández, J.A. and González, J., 2013. Multi-hierarchical representation of large-scale space: Applications to mobile robots (Vol. 24). Springer Science & Business Media.

Flores-Abad, A., Ma, O., Pham, K. and Ulrich, S., 2014. A review of space robotics technologies for on-orbit servicing. Progress in Aerospace Sciences, 68, pp.1-26.

Flores-Abad, A., Wei, Z., Ma, O. and Pham, K., 2014. Optimal control of space robots for capturing a tumbling object with uncertainties. Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, 37(6), pp.2014-2017.

Huang, P., Wang, D., Meng, Z., Zhang, F. and Liu, Z., 2016. Impact dynamic modeling and adaptive target capturing control for tethered space robots with uncertainties. IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 21(5), pp.2260-2271.

Jentsch, F., 2016. Robots in space and time: The role of object, motion and spatial perception in the control and monitoring of uninhabited ground vehicles. In Human-robot interactions in future military operations (pp. 103-122). CRC Press.

Kostavelis, I., Nalpantidis, L., Boukas, E., Rodrigalvarez, M.A., Stamoulias, I., Lentaris, G., Diamantopoulos, D., Siozios, K., Soudris, D. and Gasteratos, A., 2014. Spartan: Developing a vision system for future autonomous space exploration robots. Journal of Field Robotics, 31(1), pp.107-140.

Roehr, T.M., Cordes, F. and Kirchner, F., 2014. Reconfigurable integrated multirobot exploration system (RIMRES): heterogeneous modular reconfigurable robots for space exploration. Journal of Field Robotics, 31(1), pp.3-34.

Vonásek, V., Saska, M., Košnar, K. and P?eu?il, L., 2013, May. Global motion planning for modular robots with local motion primitives. In Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2013 IEEE International Conference on (pp. 2465-2470). IEEE.

Xu, W., Peng, J., Liang, B. and Mu, Z., 2016. Hybrid modeling and analysis method for dynamic coupling of space robots. IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, 52(1), pp.85-98.