Robonaut Heads To ISS In September
Writing by Evan Ackerman on Wednesday, 14 of April , 2010 at 5:43 am
Looks like Robonaut 2 is getting fast-tracked to the International Space Station to lend a robotic hand to the astronauts up there. It’s only a proof of concept type of thing, at first… Initially, Robonaut won’t even be able to move around. After some testing, though, the robot will be upgraded on-site with additional components that will allow it to move around both the inside and outside of the ISS, doing useful stuff (controlled by teleoperators back on Earth) so that the human astronauts don’t have to.
The dexterous humanoid robot not only looks like a human, it is designed to work like one. With human-like hands and arms, R2 is able to use the same tools that station crew members use. In the future, the greatest benefit of humanoid robots in space may be as an assistant or stand-in for astronauts during spacewalks or for tasks too difficult or dangerous for humans. For now R2 is still a prototype and does not have adequate protection needed to exist outside the space station in the extreme temperatures of space.
Testing the robot inside the station now will provide an important intermediate environment. R2 will be tested in zero gravity, as well as subjected to the station’s radiation and electromagnetic interference environments. The interior operations will provide performance data on how a robot may work side-by-side with astronauts. As development activities progress on the ground, station crews may be provided hardware and software to update R2 to allow it to do new tasks.
Incidentally, we now have the makings of a pretty sweet space robot wrestling match, if they put Robonaut 2 up against Dextre… Sorry, Robonaut, but my money is on the bot with the three meter long septuple jointed arms.
[ Robonaut ]
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Comment by John
Made Friday, 18 of June , 2010 at 7:10 am
It would seem as if nasa would wait till it actually was complete and did something before they used one of the remaining nasa missions ? Obama has already shut the main nasa program down for some unknown liberal reason.
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