Humanoid robot heads to space in Sept.

NASA plans to deliver a humanoid robot to the International Space Station (ISS) in September.

The Robonaut 2 or "R2" is designed to use the same tools as humans, which will allow it to work safely side-by-side with humans on Earth and in space.

It will perform routine maintenance tasks on the space station, "freeing up the station crew for more important work," said Ron Diftler, Robonaut Project Manager at the Johnson Space Center, SpaceDaily reported on Monday.

R2, developed jointly by NASA and General Motors, will become the first humanoid robot to travel and work in space like any other astronaut.

It can see objects it's going after, feel the environment, and adjust to it as needed, Diftler said.

R2 will be taught to do all kinds of things, especially delicate tasks like setting up science experiments for the crew, except operating the ship, he added.

Initially, the new robot will be fastened to one location in the station's Destiny Lab. It will begin with simple jobs like monitoring its own health and then switch over to more complicated jobs.

The ground team and the ISS crew will control the robot with identical systems, each comprising a GUI (graphical user interface) on a computer screen and pushbutton navigation.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=125341§ionid=3510208.