In-Cabin Robots for Space Stations: Research
Status and Key Technologies
Lixian Zhang
Professor, Vice Dean of AI Institute
School of Aerospace
Harbin Institute of Technology, China
Abstract
The in-cabin robots for space stations, including humanoid robots, crawling robots, and flying robots,are regarded as pivotal tools for advancing space station automation. Since 1998, world-leading spaceagencies, such as NASA and RKA, have spearheaded the development of in-cabin robots for spacestations, with multiple prototypes having successfully undergone on-orbit experimental verificationaboard the International Space Station. Compared to Earth-based robots, in-cabin robots working inspace stations face technical challenges in terms of highly-integrated configuration design,microgravitymotion control, and safety-critic human-robot interaction, leading to the emergence of divergentconfiguration schemes and technical solutions worldwide. This report will provide a systematicanalysis of in-cabin robots for space stations, covering their research milestones and key technologies,and projecting their future development in in-cabin environmental monitoring, astronaut-robotcollaboration, and on-orbit swarm operations.
Biography
Prof. Lixian Zhangreceived the Ph.D. degree in control science and engineering fromthe Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), Harbin, China, in 2006. From January 2007 toSeptember 2008, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of MechanicalEngineering at the Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, Canada. He was a VisitingProfessor at the Process Systems Engineering Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, USA, from February 2012 to March 2013. SinceJanuary 2009, he has been with the Harbin Institute of Technology, where he is currentlya Full Professor and the Vice Dean of the Institute for Artificial Intelligence.
Prof. Zhang’s research interests include advanced/intelligent control theory and applications in specializedrobots and spacecraft. He has co-authored over 200 high-impact papers in journals including Automatica,IEEE TAC/TAES/RAL, and AIAA JGCD. His research works have been awarded with 2023 IEEE RALBest Paper Award, and recognized as One of 100 Most Influential Papers at China in 2013. He has led over30 scientific research projects, and developed a series of robotic platforms that applied in national major inorbitengineering missions; reported by CCTV’s News Broadcast, Live News, and other CCTV programs.
Prof. Zhang currently serves as Senior Editor for IEEE Control Systems Letters, and previously served asAssociate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control and IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics. He isa winner of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, and has been honored with “QianXuesen Outstanding Contribution Award”. He received the awards of “National Natural Science Award”(second class) and “Heilongjiang Natural Science Award” (first class). He has been listed as a ClarivateAnalytics Highly Cited Researcher from 2014 to 2023. He is a Fellow of IEEE and IET.
