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The Canadarm on its own cannot reach to the places required, however, the Canadarm creators (MD Robotics have come up with an extension boom for the shuttle.

In orbit, this attaches to the end of the Canadarm and is able to inspect the entire surface.

They have a rather cool animated walkthrough and some images here.

The Canadarm on its own cannot reach to the places required, however, the Canadarm creators (MD Robotics have come up with an extension boom for the shuttle.

In orbit, this attaches to the end of the Canadarm and is able to inspect the entire surface.

They have a rather cool animated walkthrough and some images here.

With respect to the Orbiter itself (aside from management and flight rules), the main changes are the following:

1) Redesign the insulation foam on the external tank around the area of the bipod struts where the foam detached on STS-107.

2) Get the makers of the Canadarm (robotic arm) - MDA Space Missions - to design and build a second arm that will be used to inspect the underside of the Shuttle for damage when it reached orbit. Check a picture of the Shuttle with two arms at the Jan 26, 2005 press release.

3) Always launch missions during the day to the ISS only (hence the Hubble discussions) and have a spare Orbiter (in this case Atlantis) ready to go for rescue missions.

With respect to the Orbiter itself (aside from management and flight rules), the main changes are the following:

1) Redesign the insulation foam on the external tank around the area of the bipod struts where the foam detached on STS-107.

2) Get the makers of the Canadarm (robotic arm) - MDA Space Missions - to design and build a second arm that will be used to inspect the underside of the Shuttle for damage when it reached orbit. Check a picture of the Shuttle with two arms at the Jan 26, 2005 press release.

3) Always launch missions during the day to the ISS only (hence the Hubble discussions) and have a spare Orbiter (in this case Atlantis) ready to go for rescue missions.

Yes, MacDonald Dettwiler did buy Spar Aerospace, who built the "Canadarm", but the company otherwise has little to do with it. They are, however, involved in some of the robotics of the ISS (called "Canadarm 2").

BTW -- few people other than Canadians (of which I am one) call it the "Canadarm".

Tony in Vancouver

As the other poster has pointed out, the Hubble servicing robot will be built by the Canadian company MD Robotics, which has a long history of successful space robotics in the form of the SRMS on Shuttle and the SSRMS and MBS on ISS.

The Dextrous Robot portion of the Hubble servicing robot (the other portion the Grapple Arm - a mini-SRMS) has already been developed to Class A manned spaceflight standards for the ISS and is most of the way throught it's final integration at the element and end-to-end levels.

A terrestrial development version of the DR has already demonstrated it's ability to perform the mission tasks on the full Hubble mock-up at Goddard. It was these demonstrations that convinced a skeptical NASA community that a robotic mission was not only possible, but actually has a high probability of success.

Actually, it *has* been contracted out. This MSNBC article talks about the robot, developed by MD Robotics, the company that brought you Canadarm 1 and 2 (aka the dextrous manipulator).

The problem with Hubble is that it's designed to be serviced by humans- there are very few targets for vison-based positioning, and just undoing the bolts requires a lot of dexterity. Imagine building a robot that could open up your machine and replace a pci card. (Watch out for those IDE and power supply cables!) Successfully deploying a robot to perform all the servicing tasks on the Hubble will be a major engineering triumph.

Getting Hubble healthy again and deliver a new set of glasses would be a major technical achievement. Some of the challenges will be the remote docking of spacecraft and all the complicated swapping of hardware. Remember however that Hubble was originally built for human maintenance and that Dextre was built to replace modules at the ISS. It was designed from the beginning for the ISS, but came as an afterthought at Hubble. This will lead to enormous costs that only came available after public outcry. I would think that the same 1B$ could also have been spent on 1 or 2 smaller telescopes. They would probably be smaller than Hubble, but this might be compensated by new technology that wasn't available when Hubble was built 20 years ago. Expendable telescopes are an order of magnitude cheaper than maintainable ones.

Artist impression of the mission is here, anybody know if there are some videos?

Getting Hubble healthy again and deliver a new set of glasses would be a major technical achievement. Some of the challenges will be the remote docking of spacecraft and all the complicated swapping of hardware. Remember however that Hubble was originally built for human maintenance and that Dextre was built to replace modules at the ISS. It was designed from the beginning for the ISS, but came as an afterthought at Hubble. This will lead to enormous costs that only came available after public outcry. I would think that the same 1B$ could also have been spent on 1 or 2 smaller telescopes. They would probably be smaller than Hubble, but this might be compensated by new technology that wasn't available when Hubble was built 20 years ago. Expendable telescopes are an order of magnitude cheaper than maintainable ones.

Artist impression of the mission is here, anybody know if there are some videos?

I have been in an Aerospace Sales position here in Canada for the past 8-1/2 years, and have supplied parts to the company who makes it, MacDonald Dettwiler Robotics. Canada supplies a huge amount of robotics-related items to the aerospace industry, among others.

Like the arm, it's a teleoperator, controlled by somebody with joysticks.

Given how much a shuttle flight costs, it would probably be cheaper to just run off another copy of the Hubble and launch that.

MD Robotics has played a vital role in NASA space programs. It's the same company that has built the CanadaArm and CanadaArm2 and is now providing with Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator for HST.

I am very proud to see Canada (and MD Robotics, since it has a development lab in my hometown) play a vital role in ISS (with CanadaArm and CA2) and now the HST.

MD Robotics has played a vital role in NASA space programs. It's the same company that has built the CanadaArm and CanadaArm2 and is now providing with Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator for HST.

I am very proud to see Canada (and MD Robotics, since it has a development lab in my hometown) play a vital role in ISS (with CanadaArm and CA2) and now the HST.

You at least knew they made the Canadarm, right?

There is no mention what OS the thinkpad in the picture is running. For all we know that might be the "server" they are talking about... http://www.mdrobotics.ca/rws.htm

The web site runs linux, though... :)

There is no mention what OS the thinkpad in the picture is running. For all we know that might be the "server" they are talking about... http://www.mdrobotics.ca/rws.htm

The web site runs linux, though... :)

You get a lot more detail in the PDFs at the end of the SPDM page, in particular, this one. It gives you a better sense of scale, as some of the diagrams actually show an astronaut working on installing the device. There's also an interesting closeup of the control panel for the workstation. It appears that the three monitors on the workstation can show input from any of ten cameras. A central knob selects which joint of the SPDM the joystick on the right of the console is controlling. Looks kludgy, but pretty functional. They've also got a series of computer renderings that show the SPDM servicing itself (err... replacing a failed component).

Apparently MDA will be providing the Operations Control Software, but I can't find any details about it. EMS is responsible for the workstation hardware. Also skimpy on details.

There's some more information on MD Robotics' site about the actual STS-100 mission.

You get a lot more detail in the PDFs at the end of the SPDM page, in particular, this one. It gives you a better sense of scale, as some of the diagrams actually show an astronaut working on installing the device. There's also an interesting closeup of the control panel for the workstation. It appears that the three monitors on the workstation can show input from any of ten cameras. A central knob selects which joint of the SPDM the joystick on the right of the console is controlling. Looks kludgy, but pretty functional. They've also got a series of computer renderings that show the SPDM servicing itself (err... replacing a failed component).

Apparently MDA will be providing the Operations Control Software, but I can't find any details about it. EMS is responsible for the workstation hardware. Also skimpy on details.

There's some more information on MD Robotics' site about the actual STS-100 mission.

You get a lot more detail in the PDFs at the end of the SPDM page, in particular, this one. It gives you a better sense of scale, as some of the diagrams actually show an astronaut working on installing the device. There's also an interesting closeup of the control panel for the workstation. It appears that the three monitors on the workstation can show input from any of ten cameras. A central knob selects which joint of the SPDM the joystick on the right of the console is controlling. Looks kludgy, but pretty functional. They've also got a series of computer renderings that show the SPDM servicing itself (err... replacing a failed component).

Apparently MDA will be providing the Operations Control Software, but I can't find any details about it. EMS is responsible for the workstation hardware. Also skimpy on details.

There's some more information on MD Robotics' site about the actual STS-100 mission.

You get a lot more detail in the PDFs at the end of the SPDM page, in particular, this one. It gives you a better sense of scale, as some of the diagrams actually show an astronaut working on installing the device. There's also an interesting closeup of the control panel for the workstation. It appears that the three monitors on the workstation can show input from any of ten cameras. A central knob selects which joint of the SPDM the joystick on the right of the console is controlling. Looks kludgy, but pretty functional. They've also got a series of computer renderings that show the SPDM servicing itself (err... replacing a failed component).

Apparently MDA will be providing the Operations Control Software, but I can't find any details about it. EMS is responsible for the workstation hardware. Also skimpy on details.

There's some more information on MD Robotics' site about the actual STS-100 mission.

You think the Canadarm2 (SSRMS) is impressive?

The most impressive thing about the new arm is its ability to inchworm across the surface of the station. The station has (will have?) several Power Data Grapple fixtures which either end of the arm can attach to. The arm can attach it's free end to one of the fixtures and then that becomes the fixed end, leaving the arm anchored at another location on the station. Repeat, and the thing can cruise over to the other side of the station.

I'm not sure how this interacts with the hand, though. Maybe the hand is put away somewhere while the arm is moving.

Greg

The CanadaHand (SPDM) will have fifteen joints, two hands, stereo vision, and tactile sensors. Once it is installed, there will be very few EVAs on the space station.
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The CanadaHand (SPDM) will have fifteen joints, two hands, stereo vision, and tactile sensors. Once it is installed, there will be very few EVAs on the space station.
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