The Importance of Trust in Space Teleoperation

: Overcoming Challenges via Simulations and Haptic Feedback

Abstract

Remotely operated robots are crucial for the sustainable development of the space sector. However, long-distance communication introduces disruptive signal delays, which prevent immediate operator intervention, requiring a high level of trust that the robot will execute the command correctly. This thesis investigates how signal delays impact trust and explores mitigation strategies of their effects.

Firstly, a user study evaluates the relationship between teleoperation delays and operator trust, confirming that longer delays reduce trust. In addition, the role of haptic feedback is examined, revealing that while it enhances trust in real-time control, it can be counterproductive with signal delays. To address these challenges, an interview study identifies best practices from various teleoperation applications, highlighting key requirements for improving trust in delayed teleoperation. The findings emphasise the need for user-centric approaches, such as enhancing operator understanding of system behaviour and enabling progressive familiarisation through simulation-based training. Building on these requirements, this thesis explores the role of simulations in developing trust and delivering delay-robust haptic feedback, particularly in lunar in-situ resource utilisation applications. A~computationally efficient model of lunar regolith is developed and validated against physical simulants to assess its accuracy. Although the visual and haptic rendering of the model is a crude approximation, experimental results demonstrate that it is a trustworthy representation of reality during sample collection applications. Finally, a model-mediated teleoperation system incorporating the virtual regolith is tested to determine whether it can overcome the challenges of teleoperation under multi-second delays. Results show that this approach significantly improves operator trust, making it a viable solution for future lunar missions.

This work provides a foundation for enhancing remote robotic operations in space by fostering trust through improved system transparency, training methodologies, and simulation-based feedback.

Date of Award	17 Jun 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	Antonia Tzemanaki (Supervisor), Kerstin I Eder (Supervisor) & John Vrublevskis (Supervisor)