NASA Desert RATS ("Research And Technology Studies")
Meteor Crater, Arizona
September 13-16, 2004

Under contract from ILC-Dover, the University of Maryland Space Systems Laboratory developed a gestural control system for remotely driving astronaut support rovers on planetary surfaces. A camera on the helmet tracked the position of a color marker on the back of the right glove, allowing hand and arm motions to control simple driving tasks such as "right", "left", "forward", and "reverse". The final test for this system was to use it in conjunction with the 2004 NASA Desert RATS field trials at Meteor Crater, Arizona from September 13-16, 2004.

Although Desert RATS continued for two weeks, these photographs cover only the four days the UMd Space Systems Laboratory was involved in the field trials. While technical difficulties with the sensors prevented us from operating the system on the suits, we did demonstrate the functionality of the gestural command system on the JSC Electric Tractor before the end of our trip. We also got underfoot during all of the other RATS activities, as documented in the photographs...

Date	Event
Sept. 13, 2004	Site set-up, rover testing, and a visit to Meteor Crater
Sept. 14, 2004	Shirtsleeve walk-through and the first I-Suit run
Sept. 15, 2004	Field trials of I-Suit and Mark III
Sept. 16, 2004	PAO event with Mark III, gestural control, and a night I-Suit run