Remote Operations and Streamlining Communication in Mars Analog Missions: Robot-Agnostic Augmented Interface for Live Annotations During Teleoperated Exploration Tasks

Human space exploration typically requires considerable teamwork involving multiple disciplines in science and engineering. Effective and efficient field systems and information flow with the support teams are paramount for mission success, particularly in crewed missions such as the upcoming Artemis (Moon) and planned Mars missions. Moreover, human-robotic teams will be crucial in such scenarios to allow humans to extend their capabilities to previously unreachable or unsafe regions through teleoperation. In this paper, we make a technological description of a new teleoperation interface for such planetary exploration, addressing the challenges of field rover teleoperation and ensuring a streamlined information flow between the field and support teams within the AMADEE-24 Mars analog mission (March 2024). In particular, astronauts inside the habitat will use our interface (MEROP), which features (1) visually augmented mission goals (regions of interest and safe paths) provided by the Mission Support Center (MSC) before each task, (2) live geo-referenced annotation and automated output for the MSC (3) situational awareness displays and widgets, and (4) direct and semi-autonomous robot control methods. Furthermore, we describe the system architecture that allowed the integration of our interface with the mission rover (Mercator), whose development is entirely independent of our team. Finally, we present the user feedback from the analog astronauts acquired during preparations for the AMADEE mission.