Robonaut 2 limbers up for journey to the International Space Station Photo Credit/NASA
Well Rob Ambrose, who leads NASA’s Robonaut 2 project, has been asking people that question for 20 years.
And with good reason, Robonaut 2, a joint project between NASA and General Motors, to develop a humanoid suitable for space travel, is headed for the International Space Station.
Robonaut2, which consists of a muscular male-like torso but no legs, will be packed away aboard the shuttle Discovery as the spacecraft lifts off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Nov. 1 with six astronauts for an 11-day mission.
“The answers are very consistent,” says Ambrose, “When I’ve asked that question of kids, I get two answers. First, they say they would like the robot to do their homework. Then, they would like it to clean their room.”
Adults think much the same.
“They always mention cleaning, and they usually say the kitchen or the bathroom,” says Ambrose.
Unpacking R2
It will likely be sometime late this year, or early in 2011, before the space station astronauts have time to unpack and assemble Robonaut 2, who prefers to go by R2.
Eventually, R2, will be cleaning.
First, it will be the station’s many internal handrails that require a weekly disinfecting by the astronauts, a task they usually tackle on Saturday mornings. Next, it will be the air filters that keep the station’s vast array of electronics from being clogged with the fine dust debris that rises in the absence of gravity. That, too, is a task regularly handled by the station’s astronauts, who must remove, vacuum and then replace the filters.
R2’s mission is indefinite. What engineers are most interested in learning is whether the electrically-powered machine will function in weightlessness and whether the astronauts will find it safe to work around.
“We really trust this robot to do the right thing,” says Ambrose.
Astronauts Eager
The astronauts are excited about their new mechanical crewmate, who weighs in at 330 pounds.
“It’s appealing because I think it represents some of the cooperation between humans and machines that will be necessary in the future,” said NASA astronaut Catherine Coleman. Coleman is scheduled to launch to the station aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket in mid-December with European as well as Russian astronauts for a six-month tour of duty.
“Everyone from three years old up to however old who has seen Lost in Space or the Jetsons can relate to it,” said Coleman. “I like it when machines seem to have a life of their own, even if it’s doing things that you or someone else has taught it. It’s still an interaction.”
Robonaut, which cost about $2.5 million to produce, will be the source of an estimated 40 new patents, engineering breakthroughs that will likely make their way into new commercial products on the ground.
R2 will arrive at the station in pieces that must be assembled — a head, a chest with a computer and two powerful 32-inch arms laced with sensors, an aluminum skeletal system and a gleaming outer covering that is soft like skin. R2 will arrive without legs and rest on a pedestal plugged into a space station electrical socket.
Robonaut rides NASA's Centaur during Desert RATS field testing Photo Credit/NASA
The lower limbs will arrive later — after the robot has “acclimated” to weightlessness and demonstrated it can flip switches, pull open a drawer or cabinet and other simple repetitive tasks.
Future Robot Explorers
However, once equipped with legs, possibly a year after it reaches the station, R2 will be ready to take on some of those house keeping chores adults as well as kids are so eager to hand off to robots.
In two years, Ambrose and his team plan to send up a new computer for R2, a processor that will permit the robot to conduct spacewalks.
In that setting, R2 would be tasked with starting a spacewalk by gathering tools and preparing a worksite for real astronauts.
Future generations of humanoids will become a vital part of space exploration.
Robonaut was designed to function on an asteroid, Mars or the moon as well as the Earth. He’s been field tested on several kinds of rovers, including a scooter-like device like the one used by Robby the Robot in the science fiction classic Forbidden Planet.
Robby steps away from his fast moving terrain vehicle
R2’s successors will likely travel ahead of their human companions on future voyages of exploration. Once future astronauts are finished with their visit to a new world, the robots are likely to remain behind as caretakers, keeping a base ready for its next group of explorers and running experiments.