Posted by Calixte Pictet | 2 comments
NASA and GM’s Humanoid Robot
The web–or maybe just the geeky part of the web–seems to be ablaze with a letter and a number: R2. But what does it stand for? R2, for Robonaut 2 is the successor of Robonaut 1 (pretty straight forward right?). Basically, R2 is what happens when NASA and General Motors (GM) have a baby: a cool white and gold humanoid robot.
R2 was designed as a joint effort from both organisiations to provide each with the technology–and a cool robot. It is both dexterous, meaning that it can do precise operations, and aware of its surroundings. GM’s principal engineer of robotics, Marty Linn, stated that “a giant robot swinging around that doesn’t know whether a person is there or not is a bad thing.” Having a robot that is aware of it’s surroundings can be vital in domains like space exploration where they’ll have to work allong with humans. Linn added that GM and NASA “envision[ed] this kind of technology [with the aim of] using it right around humans.”
However cool its design, R2 was created to be useful. It is the first of a new generation of robots that can safely work next to humans in an efficient manner. Ron Diftler, who oversees the Robonaut project for NASA, sees R2 as “a human-scale robot,” capable of working “at human speeds.” This is important if it is to collaborate with astronauts. The traditionnal slow movements of robots would slow down the astronauts who work with them as they wait for the robot to do its part of the job, ultimately wasting time and money.
“Our challenge today is to build machines that can help humans work and explore in space,” said Mike Coats, Johnson’s center director. “Working side by side with humans, or going where the risks are too great for people, machines like Robonaut will expand our capability for construction and discovery.” Humanoid robots are not new to NASA. A decade ago they developped the R1 along with DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency. however NASA is not to be taken lightly in the development of R2 and other robots. In its 2011 budget, NASA asked for $3.0 billion over five years to develop robots for space exploration. They intend to use them as scouts as well as astronaut co-workers. The technology will also be used to increase the safety and capability of future missions.
The form factor could also be of use to test other products, such as cars, but if I understood GM well, their primary interest in the robot is technological. They want to have the know-how to create next-generation robots that could manufacture cars in a more efficient manner without being dangerous to their surroundings. However it seems that NASA wants to use R2 as-is. Ron Diftler told Discovery that “We’re working closer and closer to the human form, and that’s a difficult challenge.” Now I’m sure that R2 is cutting-edge technology and that its dedexterity makes it capable of doing much more than most robots they have, but I’m not sure about the form-factor. Is it worth it to create a humanoid robot? Humans are not adapted to work in space, they have not evolved for that, and their “design” impedes them to work efficiently in weightlessness more often than not. Then why should NASA want a robot that has exactly the same limitations? Does R2′s humanoid body have an advantage for outer-space operations or is its design just a publicity stunt?
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