Japanese Consortium Projects a Humanoid Robot On the Moon By 2015

JoshuaInNippon writes "A Japanese manufacturing cooperative named Astro-Technology SOHLA announced on April 27th that they are planning to create and send a two-legged humanoid robot to the moon, have it draw the Japanese flag on the surface, and hopefully then get it to return to the Earth, all by the year 2015. The group wants to inspire people, particularly in Japan, about space and generate confidence among SMEs to create low-cost space technology. While the idea may seem far-fetched to some, SOHLA had success in building a small low-cost satellite named Maido-1, which was launched into space aboard a Japanese H-IIA rocket in early 2009. The group also commented that they want to have their future humanoid robot hitch a ride to the moon with a surveying rover that JAXA is building."

Comments

What a Waste!

[TomRC]

... put a robot on the moon, then bring it home after drawing a flag.

Why not have the robot do something semi-constructive? Maybe set up a solar mirror capable of melting lunar rocks. Or set up a drill to see if there are more volatile elements deeper beneath the surface? Or at LEAST give it lots of equipment to play with, and turn it over to their brainiest kids to "experiment with", inspiring their next generation.

If they just want to demonstrate the capability to put a human on the moon and bring them home, have the robot load their return lander with moon rocks - at least that payload would have some value other than publicity, and the robot will have served a purpose.

Re:Why 2-legged?

[Mindcontrolled]

All true, but when, if you get the humanoid robot right, it can't just use the vacuum cleaner, it can mop the floor, clean the toilet, cook dinner, change lightbulbs, and do basically everything needed in my household, whatever task is around. The roomba will still work great vacuuming the floor, but it'll sit pathetically in its corner, whining sadly while the humanoid bot outclasses him in every other task. I agree though, that we are not remotely at this point. Given that, it is little more than a publicity stunt to put a bipedal on the moon. That doesn't mean, however, that we should not continue researching humanoid robots - or, let me rephrase that, multipurpose robots able to use any tool you throw at them. The main problem is not the number of legs, heck, let it be quadruped - the main problem to solve is the dexterity. For true tool-using multipurpose robots, it would probably be best to give them highly dexterous hands and flexible arms. There's been a lot of success in that field lately - just look at this video.