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NASA Developing Space Droids
krez writes: "NASA is developing neat little space-droids to help astronauts in space with their chores. According to the article, these things fly, talk, and 'think.' I dunno about you, but if I could get one to vacuum my apartment I'd be a happy dude." If NASA would sell these as toys (modified for earth gravity, with lots of LEDs), maybe their funding problems would disappear.
NASA is so far over budget because their budget is so unreasonably low.
"Ames researchers are using off-the-shelf parts to help keep costs down. The robot's computer is a Pentium® III running Linux, and the six ducted fans it uses for propulsion are commercial products made for model airplanes. Even the infrared distance sensors it uses to avoid collisions are pre-made sensors similar to those in auto-flush toilets!"
Astronaut: Open the pod bay doors.
'Thinking' space droid: I can't do that, Dave.
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a funny comment: 1 karma
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this sig limit is too small to put anything good h
You measure the thrust force that those little ducted fans generate -- and even though that force isn't enough to move the droid when it's resting on a lab bench in 1G, a simple F = ma tells you how fast the thrust will make the droid accelerate in 0G.
That that is is that that that that is not is not.
More seriously, they could let reporters interview astronauts with this, and take tours of the ISS. Also, they could have Senators who are voting on improvements to the ISS wear it. My point is, all of the Quicktime VR to the contrary, there's nothing like seeing live images that you're actually controlling to making something seem real. It would be the same effect that keeps people riveted to the news when the word "Live" is pulsating in the corner of their screen.
I think part of the problem with the ISS is that it hasn't really sunk in for most people that it even exists (not to mention the third world, which doesn't know, or probably care, about it's existence at all.)
Anyway, I'm glad it runs Linux and all. Go team. Rah Rah Rah
Yes, I'm still a junky. Are you still a bitch?
Then again, this is slashdot. Maybe you hit the nail on the head...
Yes, I'm still a junky. Are you still a bitch?
BAH! These aren't the droids Im looking for!
Too bad you guys already reported this. Almost a year ago... http://slashdot.org/articles/99/09/09/159255.shtml
I knew that looked familiar.
Slashdot scoops themselves again! By almost a year this time.
"Tell me doctor, with all of your defenses, are there any provisions for an attack by killer bees?"
Hey! You stole my .sig!
Er... ok, mod me off-topic now. :P
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I'm sorry but no.. at any distance close to the moon, and you start running some lag. If regular orbits actually had that problem satilite communication would be much more difficult.
Some lag may exist, yes but we have intelligent software out there that can deal with such lag, its really not that hard to do. It would be like playing a first person shooter with a lag of 50, definatly a pause, but not really noticable.
Let the wookie win!!!
All Troll + "offtopic" mods are meta moderated as "Unfair", because you abused the system.
Heh. It's regarding the diverse nature of the hardware. Linux interfacing with toilets and model airplane parts? Heh, Linux is #1 when it comes to weird hardware support.
Okay, I assumed that this is the same story that came out about 18 months ago, with the little flying-on-compressed-air red spherical thingies that resemble the doohickey shooting Luke Skywalker in the leg while he was practicing blindfolded, so I didn't read the article yet.
BUT... about the editor's comment...
Modified for Earth gravity? A little bit of air pressure will get the driod moving in zerogee. Do you have any idea how much air pressure we're talking about in order to sustain a relatively heavy object in a 1 gee field? Hovering? On air pressure? You'd be able to hear the fan a mile away! The air coming out the bottom of your SonyFlyingDroid would blow a hole in the floor!
Still, I'd buy one. :-)
You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)
um, didn't they admit to blowing $92 million? seems to me that you can't have it both ways.
My name is not spam, it's patrick
Home Automation & Linux -- now I know I'm a geek
these astronauts will spend months on end in space, these droids better be able to do more than just typical chores.
10-4 houston, I'm gonna make a visit to virtual valerie then hit the sack.
Jason
And if crew members have a question, they can simply ask. The PSA will have advanced voice-recognition and intent-interpretation technologies that will allow it to understand spoken questions and commands.
It's powered by Ask Jeeves!
There is no reasonable defense against an idiot with an agenda
:wq
Now I can buy a mecha replacement for my favorite red ball that's in a coma.
"Ames researchers are using off-the-shelf parts to help keep costs down. The robot's computer is a Pentium® III running Linux..."
At least Microsoft hasn't managed to convince NASA that they should not use Linux...
Droid: I have the solution.....please take Redhat install disc and insert into CD drive. Install Redhat...choose GUI and enjoy.
Me: Now why didn't I think of that?
Hey, you think your house is cool?
So NASA is going to design astromech droids?
I assume they'll be able to replay holographic messages.
--Ty
they're "stress relief toys".. Ever see Cherry 2000? hey, astronauts have needs too...
I believe they just use a milspec Realdoll.
Q:How many libertarians does it take to stop a Panzer division? A:None. Obviously market forces will take care of it.
Then again, maybe not.
---- SIGFPE
Clue: the astronauts are already so busy doing chores that they don't have enough time to do useful work. That's what the whole debate about 3 people or 6-7 people is all about: the station needs 3-man maintenance (maybe 2.5); the remainder, if there were more, would be able to get good experiments done.
MS clean sweep 2001, the "Standard" vacuum cleaner. You'de think it would suck, but it would not.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
I submitted a CNN article about these same NASA robots over a year ago, only to get it rejected. Oh well, better late than never. Strangely the CNN article has a lot more information than Nasa's own page. It even talks about how several of these bots could work together as a team.
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All communication to and from ISS, Shuttles, Hubble, and a number of other NASA vehicles is routed through the TDRS system of three massive satellites in geosynchornous orbit. Unlike the Russian system, Nasa doesn't have to wait for their missions to pass over their ground stations. The lag incurred by TDRS is identical to that you hear on a transoceanic telephone call.
>2) Repair. Can't fix the bot from the ground. You will have to train the crew to fix the bot (which you would have to do anyway).
I would imagine that a shuttle would bring up a half-dozen balls. This would allow you to bring several of them online during busy times. It would also allow you to discard ones that break (to be replaced by the next shuttle flight). After all, the goal is to relieve the astronauts of work, not burden them with more things to fix.
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The wonderful thing about a droid living on ISS is that it can have the full intelligence of a human. Give some grunt in mission control a pair of joysticks, and a TV screen, and you've instantly got an extra crew member who is quite capable of taking inventories, inspecting hardware and even making the odd observations out a window.
When you are dealling with high-priced space missions like ISS, you don't need to program sophisticated AI. By using a real human being you get a really useful robot, not an annoying critter with the intelligence of a brain-damaged roach.
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Well, you could test this by dropping it from a tall height, ensuring that you have enough cushioning at the bottom to catch it without breaking.
Instead of allowing people like Tito to pay $20 million to do ISS chores for a week, they're spending millions developing a robot to do those chores? No wonder NASA keeps running out of money.
The only "intuitive" interface is the nipple. After that, it's all learned.
"The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than that of whether a submarine can swim" -EWD
Of course if NASA was really smart, they'd talk to people who've already done this stuff, and simply license their tried and true technology...
The streets shall flow with the blood of the Guberminky.
They already sent a tool up there. His name was Dennis Tito.
If they ran Windows instead of Linux, it would have been amusing if it bluescreened in a room with noxious fumes.
Outdoor digital photography, mostly in New Engl
It must be tough to do earthbound testing of such a device
According to the article, they can simulate weightlessness in airplanes that fly in a parabolic curve (as seen in the picture at the bottom of the article of a guy floating in a padded airplane).
I first thought that this was for EVAs. That would be pretty cool... I think they need real robots for EVAs because using humans for them turns out too expensive (all those spacesuits and airlocks are too complex).
Then I read they were for inside the spacecraft... but I don't understand what this thing can do that an ordinary sensor package hung on the wall cannot. Even "venturing into dangerous areas" - they say they can seal a module and let the droid inspect it... well, every module should have several sensor packs in it and a few cameras too. So I don't really get how it can be more helpful than what they already have.
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I've never been clear on exactly how NASA does or does not make a profit on technology developed for the space program, but this is the kind of project that I would expect to have all kinds of spinoff technologies that will crop up in consumer goods down the road.
NASA has a couple of pages (here and here) describing some of the spinoffs that we've seen so far.
I can't say whether or not this is the most cost effective way to create new technology, but of all the things that my tax dollars go to support, NASA is one of the ones I resent the least.
** The opinions expressed here are my own, and do not reflect those of my employers - past, present, or future**
Maybe I can walk into gadgets-r-us (or is that gadgets.r.us?) and buy this and my authentic Ghostbusters proton pack... mmm... Droids and portable particle accelerators... mmm.
Seems to be easier to develop these systems for zero-g environments since you only have to worry about moving the device around instead of how to keep it up in the air, but as soon as someone develops an anti-gravity system for earth-based devices these things'll be everywhere! A whole new generation of Spy-Tv, Big Brother and Candid Camera to rot your brain during prime-time, what fun!
Hey if the astronauts get mad or just want to have some fun they could always push it around a little and watch it try to recover. Hey, with the AI software, it just might find a way to fight back, or curse the astronauts.
Who wants Pork Chops?
"This Ming is a psycho."
From Flash Gordon
I demand a million helicopters and a DOLLAR!
Yea, they could, but it wouldnt do much good. The robots use "ducted fans" for propulsion. This means that to have any control they must be in a pressurized atmosphere. They could fit this thing with all the weapons they want but it would still have to be housed inside some sort of pressurized container (space ship). If they wanted to use it outside the space station they would have to fit it with some sort of air jet. This is nearly the same as designing one from scratch. So, no, I dont see a problem with selling these for profit.
Haven't heard anything recently on this - don't think he ever got the funding to really start.
The base functionality has already been field tested by Rodney Brooks and crew during the Days if the MIT Mobot lab. Dr. Brooks developed and designed all of the "sensory" functionality they need into Hannibal, Attilla and a few others. Hell, strap a jet-pack onto Hannibal and let him go baby!! Even the A.I. won't be terribly difficult (though not trivial of course). It would be just a few more layers added into the subsumption architecture to provide the ability to filter and react to the data. I think the biggest stumbling block is the speech recognition and the fault tollerance needed to enact it to the point where it is "safe". So close to it but yet a few years off at least.
Please be patient, I'm a work in progress! --Alan Jackson
Consider how much money they put into development of these things.
Then consider the price of the components overall after it's finally finished (how many million for the small rovers??)
I imagine these will cost too much to EVER turn a profit on. But if they can dumb it down into a toy, removing gold wiring and stuff like that, just maybe...
We don't need no Net Explorer We don't need no Thought control
As long as they don't name the robots Maximillian
He has his own orbit... or not I dunno I just though it would be funny
AP reports that Hasbro Inc. lost $18.3 million in the second quarter, triggered by weak sales of Pokemon and Furbys. But not to worry, they've got strong pre-orders for the Harry Potter trading card games, to be launched in London on Aug. 7, and expect strong sales from products based "Jurassic Park 3" film (don't count on Katz ordering the t-shirt or the action figures).
How come there's no copy editor Barbie Doll?
The propulsion mechanism seems highly dependent on a zero-G environment. It must be tough to do earthbound testing of such a device. Of course, the article was short on details.
I'm just imagining a new Nasa Funded Robotica or Battle Bots taking place in space now.
I can think of alot more *ahem* chores that I could teach a driod that would make me a happier man.
I love the smell of Karma in the morning
Okay, The article cites the dimensions of this thing being "softball sized". A standard softball is between 11.88 and 12.13 in. (30.2 and 30.8 cm) in circumference. What kind of Mobo, Electrical system are we talking here? Any more detailed specs available?
There is no spork.
Yeah... they'll probably even put Clippy into the damned thing...
"It looks like you're doing laundry! Would you like to run the Laundry Wizard?"
"It looks like you're bonking the milk man! Would you like information about divorce, or perhaps an online, interactive version of the Kama Sutra?"
Then the astronauts could accomplish all of this
Art At Home
Bad visions of the movie Space Camp.... Help help!
Oh, he excels at that sir.
I hope the inspiration for these things come from the sparring-bot luke used on the falcon and not from the big black beach ball of death Vader used on Leia.
Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. -- Carl Sagan
on Slashdot there was an article on how NASA has gone way over budget. Perhaps if the astronauts did their own "chores"...
That was very insightful and true. Good point. Might also save Nasa some cash in AI development. I suppose there are two problems with your suggestion though.
1) Lag time. Radio travels at speed of light, so you are going to incur some delay. Say a half second of delay round trip. Is this a problem? Could be. Also, when the ISS is on the otherside of the earth, you can't send it a signal (unless you have more then one transmitter, of course)
2) Repair. Can't fix the bot from the ground. You will have to train the crew to fix the bot (which you would have to do anyway).
But a great suggestion none the less.
Lawrence Lessig is my personal hero.
And for those of you who remember Tito's comments about his trip to the ISS, they sure need it. According to him (and others), the astronaughts spend a great deal of time with mundane tasks. Any slack a droid can pick up is a little more time the scientists can study science and make life more comportable for the early pioneers of living in space. Of course, alot of non-mission related work was probably expected by Nasa in the early years of the project for trying to make the whole thing work. Perhaps later more science will take place. Any tool Nasa can provide to speed along this process I am sure will be appreciated by the people who live up there.
I agree with the author's comments too. There are probably enough people who would want to pick this up that Nasa could make a little loose change. Not a bad idea...hope Nasa was listening.
Lawrence Lessig is my personal hero.
Ha! they already tried that, and failed! Check out the Microsoft Actimates. Of course, maybe the reason they bombed was that the first one was (gasp) Barney!
www.lucernesys.comHorizon: Calendar-based personal finance
If I could get one to vacuum my apartment...
You don't need to vacuum you're apartment, just do this:
http://www.milk.com/wall-o-shame/waterproof.html
Disconnect your television. Do your own research. Draw your own conclusions. They're probably lying. Don't be a sheep.
if NASA would sell these as toys...
These aren't the droids you're looking for.
Disconnect your television. Do your own research. Draw your own conclusions. They're probably lying. Don't be a sheep.
NASA should really market these to the public as a means to amassing the funds that the government doesn't give them. I agree with krez, the original submitter; I definately wouldn't mind having a robotic companion to do some of the chores.
;-)
Plus, holographic messages are really cool!
"Help me O Great Marketing Guru, you're my only hope!"
You're in luck. I thought of R2D2 right on the spot. AI, work-friendly... a droid of all the right qualities. Plus, he LOOKS like a vaccuum cleaner. Let's stop before we start making bitchy C3POs tho, ok?
Screw 3...
I question how well an AI would function with these things. I'm sure the calm, zero gravity environment of the ISS is more ideal for practical autonomous robots, but it still seems like several years of work before they could do anything useful.
On the other hand, stick a person on the other end and it might be all kinds of useful. I'm sure the engineers on the ground would love to be able to check things out themselves by remote rather than bother the residents. It'd be so easy to adapt for this purpose, I'd be surprised if this didn't wind up to be their function.
"If NASA would sell these as toys (modified for earth gravity, with lots of LEDs), maybe their funding problems would disappear."
Yep... maybe. Or maybe Micro$oft will start making the same "toys", monopolize the market, sell a unit to every household; so some day, they can charge a anual "license" to vacuum your apartment, wash your dishes and everything else... hell!! maybe they will even readDid you notice the print at the bottom?
The robot's computer is a Pentium® III running Linux, and the six ducted fans it uses for propulsion are commercial products made for model airplanes.
Sweet!
Many conflicts would occur in selling these to subsidize their budget, the most important being rival countries. If Russia or China were to get ahold of these bots, they could easily dump the code, reprogram it and burn the new code into the bot. The new code contains instruction to destroy the Anti-Missile Defense Shield. Then they wouldn't have to worry about the K-Treaty no longer. These droids would be designed for anti-gravity and all they need is a few instructions taken from some BattleBot machines to destroy the whole damn laser. A whole army of Space CommieBots would be an interesting sight.
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//----(triple c)-------//
While it'd be very cool to have your own droid to boss around ("Droid! Do the laundry!" "Droid! Clean up my desk!" "Droid! Bring me a martini!"), I don't think they'd be affordable - or practical - for quite a while. Plus, NASA currently doesn't have the resources to support the necessary service. And why buy a NASA droid when you can build one yourself using LEGO? Not only would that be cheaper, but it's much geekier.
The space versions, however, show great promise. Good article.
*****
There are many people in this country who, through no fault of their own, are sane.
If NASA would sell these as toys (modified for earth gravity, with lots of LEDs), maybe their funding problems would disappear.
Exactly. If NASA was completely independent we'd all be flying our private jets in the upper atmosphere while a fleet of robots protected and cleaned the house back on the ground. The whole velcro and Tang thing is starting to get old.
--
"I strongly urge both the faint of heart and the faint of butt to leave the room at this time."
- Strong Bad
Why is this moderated funny? It does use linux. That's a cut&paste from the page.
just my worthless .02
Carpe Noctem -=- Seize The Night
they're "stress relief toys".. Ever see Cherry 2000? hey, astronauts have needs too...