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Humanoid Robot for Spacewalks
Nils writes "Here is the web page of a research project at NASA JSC's Dexterous Robots Lab (DRL) to develop a humanoid robot for use in space. It is state-of-the-art with incredible hands, arms, torso, and stereoscopic vision for remote control. Very cool." We had a story on the Robonaut two years ago, but it looks like they've come a long way since then.
I've got my OWN bionic appendages, IF you know what I mean...
...compatibility.
"Over the past five decades, space flight hardware has been designed for human servicing. Space walks are planned for most of the assembly missions for the International Space Station, and they are a key contingency for resolving on-orbit failures. Combined with our substantial investment in EVA tools, this accumulation of equipment requiring a humanoid shape and an assumed level of human performance presents a unique opportunity for a humanoid system."
In other (unrelated) news, the US government has a new job opening, with a title called "Blade Runner", which job will consist in "retiring" old humanoid robots that come back to earth.
Any reason the head looks like Fett's helmet? Me thinks that one too meany NASA engineers were watching The Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi one to meany times.
Cool! Star Trek's "Data" version 0.001 (alpha)
Read my sig if you like, but I'll never see yours, thanks to Discussions, Viewing, Disable sigs...
Wow! I knew it has always been Dexter's dream to work for NASA... Let's just hope he can keep Dee Dee out of the robotics lab!
Or does he look like Bobafett?
Wouldn't it make sense to have the robot designed to a form that's efficient and practical as possible? Sure, current EVA hardware is human-form oriented, but in the long run they will be replaced anyway.
Mine would have 8 arms, a beer cooler, joint roller [munchies make space food taste nicer!], and puncture repair kit.
Ph33r m3!!!
One wonders if the builders of this robot are Star Wars fans. The robot's head bears a striking resemblance to Jango Fett's helmet...
In close earth orbit, the transmission lag time could stay tolerable; nothing proper training shouln't be able to fix. (The russians only used people with no driving experience to control their remote-controlled Lunokhod roving lunar probes, so they would not get hindered by earthly reflexes...)
And ground tele-workers could work in shifts so the action would occur 24/4, instead of being shut down for several hours every day.
The space shuttle is nothing but a tin-can jallopy to inflate the egoes of a picked few space/science-jocks.
You've got to wonder why they chose the human form for this? It isn't very efficient in this environment.
How about something that can old on with one arm, use two or more arms to actualy do work. Add a camera to each arm, plus a central camera, etc. The options are endless, so why human?
No legs, weird "see-through" face, "hands" proportionally too small. If you look at monster movies, you'll notice that the freakiest-looking monsters have a basically human shape, with some very oddly distorted features. I'm not saying the designers should put cosmetics before function, just make some minor changes to get the proportions approximately correct.
Why is this important? Astronauts on a space walk probably have many other things to think about without having their subconscious mind drawn to the fact that the humanoid robot they're working with doesn't look "quite right".
What's missing is a rocket pack and the ability to morph into a truck!
I'm thinking of people with disabilities.
Since NASA is so well-funded and since it attracts such talented engineers, let's hope for spinoffs of research into mimicking human function will improve the quality of life for disabled individuals.
No legs
That was my first thought too. See also these.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Question is, how will this robot look in a tuxedo?
- Yes, HAL.
- Please open the door, Dave.
- I can't do that, HAL.
Honda have spent millions on research and development of their humanoid robot and nasa start from scratch again with what looks like an inferior product ?, Honda was at robonauts development status years ago , it seems a shame to ignore it and try to re-invent it, dont forget that they probably has more practical experience of robots in the commercial workplace than nasa do (car factories)
why dont they collaborate with people such as Honda instead of starting from scratch and wasting millions of dollars in the process ?
i presume Honda's goals are similar to Nasa's in regards to putting robots in hostile enviroments, i think its about time people took humanoid robots a bit more seriously than some do and start putting them to practical uses, sure there is the argument that they are not suited to those enviroments but hey we havent done to bad with 10 fingers 2 hands,legs and a torso and these research groups would probably agree.
if people talked to each other more on this planet maybe we would get somewhere
Looks like a cross between 2-1B http://www.starwars.com/databank/droid/21b/index.h tml and Boba Fett http://www.starwars.com/databank/character/bobafet t/index.html.
I can't really see why they are goiung this way, though it will probably have positive ramifications in the prosthetics industry.
I suspect a subtle move to developing "human like" robots over a darwinistic approach that develops the best, regardless of form.
Though their EVA is "Extravehicular Activity", it reminds me of the character "Lilith" that appears in famous anime by GAINAX studio, "Evangelion", aka EVA.
L il01.html
Here's the picure of dead Lilith:
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~humm/Topics/Lilith/nge
Creepy design of Robonaut shares something with this Lilith. Lilith in EVA is an evil angel, but it's very complicated story that you can't comprehend with a few google searches.
Is it coincidence? Or one of NASA crew is cmdrtaco?
I propose the name "Maximilian".
[The robot] is state-of-the-art with incredible hands
And we know all the geeks have been waiting for a robot with the slow hands, the easy touch....
"Please wait while Onanism 2.0 lubes -- er, boots -- up"
Opinions on the Twiddler2 hand-held keyboard?
Anyone else notice the big DARPA logo. Let's see attach the torso to some tank style treads and those fingers are perfect for firing an M16. Ladies and gentlemen the solider of the future.
"Technology.....the knack of so arranging the world that we don't have to experience it." Max Firsch
Is this the same robot that derived it's inspiration from Leonardo DaVinci's mechanical knight notes and studies of the kinetics of the human body?
--The more you know, the less you know.
"Would you like some '3-in-one' with that order sir? No? Drive through!"
Seriously - maybe 2 efficient ones working round the clock versus a crew of 10 or 12?
Cake or Death? Cake Please!
Been there, done that. Isn't it nice to know that great minds think alike? ;)
"Like fire and fusion, government is a dangerous servant and a terrible master."~RAH
It's all well and good developing robots for civilian use, but what's to stop the mature version of this being given a gun and told to patrol government institutions. Or even fire on demonstrators? Something here just doesn't feel right...
look like the Fett;
but moreover -- if they are going for "life-like", the really need to implement moveable "eyes" (cameras) instead of having the head do all the moving. it mould make the head go through much extaneous range of movements, while still not have the flexibility of a human head / eye system. (bend head one way to avoid, say, a beam, while still be able to look to your left side.)
otherwise very cool -- even if it's just half-a-robot. but even if mounted on a cart i bet i can program it to clean my room.
hmm... wait a sec; i can't even clean my room.
My life in the land of the rising sun.
a robot that does the moonwalk?
... Will Robinson.. Danger Danger...
----- Whats wrong with this picture? http://www.revoh.org:1234/whatswrong
But I guess it's still in alpha.
"We had a story on the Robonaut two years ago, 16 months ago, 14 months ago, 12 months ago, 10 months ago, 9 months ago, 7 months ago, 6 months ago, 5 months ago, 2 months ago, 2 weeks ago, 4 days ago, and yesterday, but it looks like they've come a long way since then. "
NASA has a long-standing robotics program, but not a very successful one. It's embarassing, or ought to be.
Why a humaniod robot??
Design something that more suited for it's purpose than something that looks nice. The only benefit in building humanesks is that they are easier for real people to interact with.
This thing is remote controlled. There is no use for a nice-looking design.
A cool idea I once had is just an arm with a number joint and hand at each end. It can hold on with one hand and work with the other, or use both hands to climb around on the outside of a spacecraft.
Mechanization puts more out of work... Does no one think of the poor astronauts who will lose their jobs to the machines? This could have many far reaching consequences... The astronauts will unionize, and during strikes the American public will be denied much needed weightlessness footage! Stop these "ro-bot" workers before it is too late!
When I was working for a company that produced custom industrial robots I dealt with a similar situation on one of my first projects.
Basically, all the machine had to do was measure and cut wire. That's a pretty simple task, and the whole thing could have been finished in a week for a few thousand dollars. For some reason, though, the customer insisted that instead of using easily replaced, sensible cutting blades designed specifically for the machine, it had to use the custom made, diagonal cutters their assemblers were using to cut the stuff by hand. The reason being that the diagonal cutters were of a special material required for the job (a medical application). Of course, we could have easily made machine blades out of the same material for about 1/20 of the cost, but the customer insisted...
The end result: the machine took almost 2 months to complete and cost almost $15,000, it requires constant re-calibration because the cutters move a tiny bit with each cut, and it takes nearly an hour to change and align the cutters when they dull. (The design we proposed would have cut that time down to a few minutes)
Designing a machine to use tools designed for a human is always a bad idea. No matter how much you have invested in those tools, redesigning them to be used by a machine will always be cheaper.
Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism it's the other way around.
Yes I read NASA's requirement: but wouldn't a growable extra opposable thumb be useful ... just look where we (humans) got with just one.
A new set of articulating eyes has been built for Robonaut. The pointing system directs two pairs of eyes, independently verging them for tracking humans and objects. Each pair includes a large camera with computer controlled zoom, focus and iris adjustments, as well as a smaller camera to provide peripheral vision. The system has been assembled, and integrated with the brainstem for pointing control and calibration. The next step will be integration with the visual cortex, and then insertion of the system into the robot's helmet, replacing the old cameras.
Please....Read the artical first
Already did.
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
ummm you think would be a way to slashdot this bot.......like the webserver it's on
This is why we don't need NASA. A private funded company would be more efficient. Also, what does the government need from space? We need to stand up and tell our governments to stop monopolizing this valuable piece of real estate.
..If one of these things tries to sell me a Han Solo frozen in carbonite or whatever, then (I'm Doug, and) I'm ooouuutta heeEEeerreee..
CAn'T CompreHend SARcaSm?
How about a robot that does The Robot?
Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
Or we could start utilizing the more liquid two thirds of the surface of the planet.
"I'm not impatient. I just hate waiting." - My Dad
I knew the team lead, about 5-6 years ago. I can't remember for sure but some of the answers are this:
(1) it's humanoid because humans and robonauts are designed to be "hot-swappable" - what and where a human can do or go, the robot can and vise-versa, also, it allows for direct human control of the robot without requiring 4 humans (in the case of 8 arms).
(2) He liked Star Wars and Boba Fett =)