NASA's plans to implement the Vision for Space Exploration include extensive human-robot cooperation across an enterprise spanning multiple missions, systems, and decades. To make this practical, strong enterprise-level interface standards (data, power, communication, interaction, autonomy, and physical) will be required early in the systems and technology development cycle. Such standards should affect both the engineer and operator roles that humans adopt in their interactions with robots. For the engineer role, standards will result in reduced development lead-times, lower cost, and greater efficiency in deploying such systems. For the operator role, standards will result in common autonomy and interaction modes that reduce operator training, minimize workload, and apply to many different robotic platforms. Reduced quantities of spare hardware could also be a benefit of standardization.
This paper discusses the need for, and benefits that derive from, human-robot interface standards from the perspective of stakeholders within NASA, in the academic community, and in industry. The discussion includes an assessment of the scope of the required standards and the extent to which existing standards are applicable and are able to meet the need. In addition, past initiatives to promote standardization and their implications for the current initiative are explored, current efforts to develop appropriate standards are described, and significant gaps and roadblocks are identified.