  Low-latency telerobotics can enable more intricate surface tasks on
extraterrestrial planetary bodies than has ever been attempted. For humanity to
create a sustainable lunar presence, well-developed collaboration between
humans and robots is necessary to perform complex tasks. This paper presents a
methodology to assess the human factors, situational awareness (SA) and
cognitive load (CL), associated with teleoperated assembly tasks. Currently,
telerobotic assembly on an extraterrestrial body has never been attempted, and
a valid methodology to assess the associated human factors has not been
developed. The Telerobotics Laboratory at the University of Colorado-Boulder
created the Telerobotic Simulation System (TSS) which enables remote operation
of a rover and a robotic arm. The TSS was used in a laboratory experiment
designed as an analog to a lunar mission. The operator's task was to assemble a
radio interferometer. Each participant completed this task under two
conditions, remote teleoperation (limited SA) and local operation (optimal SA).
The goal of the experiment was to establish a methodology to accurately measure
the operator's SA and CL while performing teleoperated assembly tasks. A
successful methodology would yield results showing greater SA and lower CL
while operating locally. Performance metrics showed greater SA and lower CL in
the local environment, supported by a 27% increase in the mean time to
completion of the assembly task when operating remotely. Subjective
measurements of SA and CL did not align with the performance metrics. Results
from this experiment will guide future work attempting to accurately quantify
the human factors associated with telerobotic assembly. Once an accurate
methodology has been developed, we will be able to measure how new variables
affect an operator's SA and CL to optimize the efficiency and effectiveness of
telerobotic assembly tasks.
