Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

NASA's Robonaut 2 Can't Use Its Space Legs Upgrade

Posted by Soulskill on from the safety-mechanism-to-prevent-it-from-killing-all-humans dept.

BarbaraHudson writes: Robonaut 2, now in orbit on board the International Space Station, has run into problems with the software controlling its new legs. From the article: "The machine ran into a few technical errors. According to NASA, the ground teams deployed Robonaut's software and received telemetry from the robot, but were unable to obtain the correct commands for the leg movement, which are vital to performing every day tasks aboard the International Space Station. Ground teams have begun assessing how to move forward with this issue, though it is unclear if they currently have a fix in mind."

30 of 58 comments (clear)

  1. Tech Support: by Tablizer · · Score: 2

    "We can fix it, but it's gonna cost you an arm and a leg."

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
    1. Re:Tech Support: by Virtucon · · Score: 2

      "Have you tried turning off and back on?"

      --
      Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
    2. Re:Tech Support: by product_bucket · · Score: 3, Funny

      /dev/ttyACM0 not found
      This program requires root priveliges to access legs.
      unable to run... using lateral undulation instead

    3. Re:Tech Support: by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Tech-support tells the astronauts to "re-boot" the legs, and they put a new set of boots on it.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
  2. Sad. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Will they have to shoot it?

  3. Yeah, so? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Toss it out the airlock and 3D print a new one!

    Wadda ya got up there, Luddites?

    1. Re:Yeah, so? by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      Toss it out the airlock and 3D print a new one!

      Give a hoot, don't pollute LEO.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  4. Fix/rewrite the software? by TWX · · Score: 2

    Wouldn't it simply be a matter of fixing or rewriting the software for the legs?

    Worst case, if somehow the wiring for the legs is wrong, the astronauts should have some complex device, called a multimeter, to figure out how the legs ARE wired, if it comes down to that.

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    1. Re:Fix/rewrite the software? by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1

      Or maybe they should remove the legs and re-install them. They were originally installed by astronauts in the space station - maybe someone made a mistake? Or some thin flexible printed wiring (like used to connect the laptop keyboard to the motherboard) broke.

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
  5. Does Robonaut not have a backup? by Virtucon · · Score: 1

    Go back to version 1.0 Firmware? No?

    --
    Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
    1. Re:Does Robonaut not have a backup? by neo-mkrey · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Never trust Version 1.0 of anything.

    2. Re:Does Robonaut not have a backup? by Virtucon · · Score: 2

      I can't remember. Does that version have the "Kill all humans" command built-in?

      --
      Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
    3. Re:Does Robonaut not have a backup? by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 3, Funny

      I can't remember. Does that version have the "Kill all humans" command built-in?

      Hard to tell - we can't seem to locate any of the coders who wrote it.

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
  6. V.I.N.C.E.N.T. didn't need legs! by Thud457 · · Score: 1

    What's a space-robot need freakin' legs for?
    Piece of junk, throw 'im in a Black Hole!

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

    1. Re:V.I.N.C.E.N.T. didn't need legs! by tepples · · Score: 1

      What's a space-robot need freakin' legs for?

      That's what I was thinking. If they can't get the legs working, it should still be possible to do science, pitch a tent, do gymnastics, swing like Spider-Man...

    2. Re:V.I.N.C.E.N.T. didn't need legs! by cusco · · Score: 1

      What I want to know is when it changed from being "in orbit" to being "on orbit" and why? You can certainly be in a certain orbit, but AFAIK it's impossible to be on an orbit. For some bizarre reason the latter has become more popular the last few years.

      --
      "Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
  7. Lieutenant Robonaut by stimpleton · · Score: 2

    Robonaut, you got new legs!

    --

    In post Patriot Act America, the library books scan you.
  8. Telemetry from Robonaut says: by nytes · · Score: 1

    "Doc, I can't feel my legs!"

    --
    -- I have monkeys in my pants.
  9. We can rebuild him... by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 1

    We have the technology. We can make him better than he was. Better...stronger...faster. Wait, only six million? He already costs 17 million and his legs don't even work! Budget cuts?! FORGET IT! PROJECT OVER! *flips table over*

    btw, to date his full cost is in fact $17 million.

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    1. Re:We can rebuild him... by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 1

      Well, at least it's less than $6 billion.

  10. Daddy! I can't feel my legs! by Irate+Engineer · · Score: 1

    Shouldn't have skimped on the code.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2XvxDaIwCw

    --

    Left MS Windows for Linux Mint and never looked back!

    Vote for Bernie in 2016!

  11. I've seen this a million times. by Drunkulus · · Score: 1

    It's a Ruby app running on Ubuntu, and Puppet overwrote the new configs.

    1. Re:I've seen this a million times. by tepples · · Score: 1

      Then perhaps you need to install Real Boy instead of Puppet.

  12. Re:Trolling apk again's your mistake by radtea · · Score: 1

    I'm a deaf person in a hearing person's body and a myopic person's body. There are technological fixes for those things, and I apply them. I don't see why other people with different problems than mine shouldn't apply technological fixes to their issues.

    But of course there are always going to be those who scream "FOUR EYES" and otherwise bully the kid with glasses, or hearing aids, or is otherwise using technology to help them be functional and happy in this crazy old world.

    Unfortunately, we don't have a technological fix for bitterness and hatred just yet, and people who are full of hatred and bitterness would be unlikely to use it if we did, as they seem to like their bitterness and hatred, which is rather sad, really.

    --
    Blasphemy is a human right. Blasphemophobia kills.
  13. Re:Update failure on Patch Tuesday? by davester666 · · Score: 1

    Should have hired Canada to make it!

    --
    Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
  14. WTF? by SuperDre · · Score: 1

    How can such a blunder even happen? They did test it rigorously on an identical robot here on earth, or is that something they just completely forgot...
    This is something that should just never have happened.. what kind of amateurs are they..

  15. Wide Eyed and Legless... by advocate_one · · Score: 1

    I've gone and done it again...

    --
    Donald 'Duck' Dunn: We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.
  16. Help! I've fallen and I can't get up! by smooth+wombat · · Score: 1

    Oh wait, this is space.

    Never mind.

    --
    We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
  17. A kick and a curse... by courcoul · · Score: 1

    Bang on it with a crescent wrench....

    Solved the problem in Armageddon, didn't it?

  18. Typo by azav · · Score: 1

    It's everyday* tasks, not every day tasks.

    Everyday is an adjective meaning commonplace.

    --
    - Zav - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods...