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Goddard Engineering and Technology Directorate

Robotic Technology Center (RTC)

The Robotic Technology Center maintains multiple robotic platforms for technology development in the field of space robotics.
The Robotic Technology Center maintains multiple robotic platforms for technology development in the field of space robotics.

The RTC is a state-of-the-art facility that develops technologies needed to further In-space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM) missions and supports Goddard’s ISAM research and development.   

Spread out over four work areas, the Robotic Technology Center (RTC) houses a range of motion platforms including four 7-Degrees of Freedom (DOF) industrial robots, one 6-DOF Rotopod parallel robot, one 6-DOF grapple arm, one 6-DOF industrial robot, and a 4-DOF sampling robot arm. These robotic platforms are flexible and used to test machine vision algorithms, haptic sensors and teleoperation procedures for satellite servicing operations.

The facility houses a 15 by 20-foot Gravity Offset Table (GOT) that weighs over 42 tons and can handle a over seven tons of weight creates a two-dimensional free-floating environment to imitate how an object will react to force in space.

With a variety of satellite and space payload mockups, a metrology system, a solar simulator, flat floor, and fiducial testbed, the RTC is able to maintain a high standard for testing and simulations in the field of space robotics.

Research areas for the RTC include machine vision, relative navigation, advanced sensor systems and robotic control.      

To learn more about these technologies visit NASA’s ISAM capabilities page.