It has been 47 years since NASA last led a mission to the moon.  The Apollo 17 mission lasted for 12 days in December of 1972.  NASA is projecting that their next lunar mission will be ready come 2024.  As part of their preparations for this mission the researchers at NASA are teaming up with a number of different private and government organizations to gather the best equipment to assist any astronauts that would be part of this epic mission.  One of the technologies that much research is being invested into is drone technology.

NASA already uses drones in many of their operations, and they hope to use drones widely in the future, especially when planning the exploration of the moon.  With the use of drones, astronauts can scope out an area to be explored with a drone first, making sure it is safe for them to proceed.  After all, they will be exploring uncharted areas in which safety is paramount.  These drones can safely crawl or fly into unknown spaces giving the astronauts the visuals and maps needed to further explorations.  The problem comes from how an astronaut will be able to control a drone while outside of their ship on the moon’s surface.

One option is to use fully autonomous drones.  The team will surely use drones with autonomous capabilities, but in this situation autonomy poses some limitations.  Because there is so little already known that can be programed into an autonomous drone the astronauts need to find a way to have manual control over drones in space as well.  But how is an astronaut in a life saving spacesuit supposed to use a tablet of remote control to guide a drone precisely?  That is where a small company from New Zealand comes into play.

Led by Co Founder Magnus Arveng and COO Moina Tamuly, Arveng Technologies has been working nonstop over the last three years to create a tool that will allow drones to be controlled through human intention.  Earlier this year the company released a statement that said, “We have transitioned from making a drone glove for fun, to focusing on delivering real value through intelligent software combined with innovative input methods, like motion-capture hardware.  We are capturing INTENT.  We; Arveng Technologies, are aligning our name with our vision and will become: NTENTION.”

Recently Ntention joined other organization like NASA and SETI at the Haughton-Mars Project site to test out their drone glove.  The Haughton-Mars Project is an international project to test out technologies that will help humans in the exploration of other planets.  It is located near the Haughton impact crater in northern Canada, an arctic area similar to the conditions that would be found on the surface of the moon or Mars.  The smart glove designed by Ntention will hopefully give astronauts a way to manipulate drones while wearing cumbersome space suits.

According to Ntention’s website, “We are building a system of interaction between the people and the machines that is user centered – not machine centered. The machine will understand the user – not the other way around. Our goal is to understand the intent of the user and translate it to machines. This is how we are moving beyond motion capture and into the world of intention capture.”  Along with a custom designed micro-chip the drone glove has sensors that run across the back of the hand and on the fingers.  As the hand and fingers move the sensors translate the movements into commands.

For an astronaut with limited range of fine motor skills this is a great solution.  As their website goes on to explain, “The glove registers the yaw, pitch and roll of the hand, and it also registers how open or closed the hand is. Advanced sensors on the back of the hand registers the movements over the x-, y- and z-axes, which is then communicated to the drone for its rotation and movement. These advanced sensors are called Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs), which is a combination of an accelerometer, a gyroscope and a magnetometer. How open the hand is controls the throttle, which in turn controls speed, lift-off and landing.”  Rather than having to manipulate a gear stick or tablet, an astronaut could be able to use a drone with just a few simple hand gestures.

The commands interpreted by the drone glove can be customized in any way to fit the needs of the user and environment.  NASA has already tasked Collins Aerospace with designing a new and improved spacesuit for future missions.   Greg Quinn, advanced spacesuit development lead at Collins Aerospace said that, “The next generation suit will incorporate intelligent technologies that will take current capabilities to a new level.”  One of these new features just might be Ntention’s drone glove.  Moina Tamuly said of this new adventure, “Our philosophy is to create technology that makes human-machine interfacing intuitive and seamless…we are excited to see that our technology has potential applications in space exploration.”

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