Could Be Key To Post-Shuttle Space Travel

R2D2 may be a lot closer to reality than ever imagined, according to JSC Robotics Division Director Rob Ambrose. Speaking at a keynote session at the second annual RoboNexus conference in San Diego, Ambrose said NASA is developing sophisticated robotic machines that could perform almost any kind of task a person could do -- with far less risk.

The machines, called telerobots, could be commanded by operators on Earth or onboard space stations to do a lot of the hands-on work during station construction or on future deep space exploration missions, according to media reports.

One of the machines in development is the Robonaut, described by Ambrose as a "Star Wars" -esque humanoid machine that can replicate human hand and arm movement. The Robonaut would perform tasks such as drilling and painting.

"The hands and arms on these devices are amazing," Ambrose said. "They have hundreds of sensor points and can approximate human movement to a very fine degree. The fingers can feel around a drill handle and find the trigger, then feel the vibration of the drill and use the right amount of pressure to do the job."

Another device proposed by Ambrose was the SpiderNaut, a 600-pound "arachnid" that could be used to carry people (and other robots) to a work site over any terrain. Astronauts might also use a four-or-six-wheel lunar robot to carry them to a workplace, which would then follow them to wherever he or she might go -- "sort of like a dog that follows you around until you say 'heel,'" Ambrose said -- bringing new significance to the term 'lunar rover.'

And then there's the MiniAERemote, a beach ball-sized floating device that would be used to photograph sections of a spacecraft (or the space shuttle) invisible to existing cameras. He said the device would be akin to a lifeboat, something that all spacecraft need.

"It would have been nice to have had this on the Apollo 13 mission," said Ambrose. "It would have relieved a lot of consternation."

Plans are already in the works for machines such as the Robonaut to help complete the ISS by 2010. Future development would allow for machines to help build new spacecraft, and to aid in turning the moon into a launch site to other planets like Mars by 2020.

Robonaut, SpiderNaut and the MiniAERemote would not be the first robots to see duty with NASA, Ambrose said. Already, there are such "veteran agent" robots such as the Lunar and Mars Explorer vehicles, as well as the Remote Manipulator System (RMS) deployed on the space shuttle.

FMI: www.nasa.gov, www.robonexus.com