If you haven’t heard about Robonaut 2, it's the handy robot that’s been helping out at the orbiting International Space Station (ISS) 230 miles above Earth for the past two years.
Robonaut 2. (Image via NASA)
Yes, it’s a constant fear that robots will take over all human jobs one day, but NASA’s Ron Diftler, lead engineer on the Robonaut 2 project, assures us that robots are just one more tool to aid space exploration; they will not replace people.
Robonaut works and will continue to work side by side with humans since we must remember that the ISS is still referred to as a “Human Spaceflight Station.”
So what’s Robonaut really good for?
Currently, the Robonaut team is preparing to add mobility to the robot that currently works at the ISS by giving it climbing legs so it can maneuver about inside of the station, but Diftler envisions Robonaut being able to do much more than that.
Robonaut helping out at the ISS. (Image via NASA)
Right now Robonaut can only work inside the station, but in the future he will tend to maintenance issues outside the ISS as well. For example, if there is a broken pump, the robot can do a real-time repair with the help of ground control and what NASA calls teleoperations, operation of a machine at a distance. While one Robonaut is fine for now, Diftler would like to see one inside the ISS and one outside in the long term.
The team wants to see Robonaut work in “very unstructured environments” within the next five to 10 years, said Diftler.
Just because Robonaut is a space robot doesn’t mean he won’t be able to help out on the ground too. Robonaut can safely work with radiation so it would be able to work with hazardous nuclear power.
In any environment where you’d need to wear burdensome, protective gear, that if damaged would danger a human presents an opportunity for Robonaut to step up. “Anyplace that you have to do something similar to an astronaut, a Robonaut can help,” said Diftler.
The future of Robonaut in space
Robonaut is really intended to just be an assistant to humans. It’s “inspired by the human form, but not slave to the human form,” said Diftler, so who knows how long Robonaut will maintain its humanoid composition.
Robonaut and astronauts will work side-by-side. (Image via NASA)
The engineers do what makes the most sense to accomplish tasks. So far, the human form has made sense and that’s why Robonaut is getting some new legs.
In the meantime, if you’re an astronaut, I wouldn’t worry about losing your job to a robot any time soon. They’re just here to help.
Electronic Products will be at NASA this week. To learn more about the trip to NASA’s Johnson Space Center, visit the Littelfuse Speed2Design site and keep up-to-date with the trip on Twitter and Facebook.
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