The scientists who built NASA's new robot equipped their creation with an age-old tool, which is nevertheless a leap forward: a palm. No machine of its kind has ever had a hand like that of the "Robonaut".
The Robonaut. "A big step for the robotic species"
The scientists who built NASA's new robot equipped their creation with an age-old tool, which is nevertheless a leap forward: a palm. No machine of its kind has ever had a hand like that of the "Robonaut". Other robots could only pick up objects simply using pincers; Robonaut has four fingers, a thumb and a handshake that politicians would envy. It can pick up extremely small objects that other robots couldn't grab, or pull the trigger on a variable-speed drill. "This is a big leap for the robotic species," says Red Whittaker, founder of the "Terrain Robotics Center" at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute.
Designed as a space assistant operated by remote control, the Robonaut was built to operate the tools used by astronauts. "The idea was to create a substitute for an astronaut," says Chris Lubchik, an engineer at NASA who designed the robot's hands. "We put the astronaut's training into the robot, and take the robot out to do the hard work in the dangerous space conditions."
Hands alone are not enough for this kind of work. That's why the Robonaut designers gave their creation an arm, torso, head and video-camera-eyes. When the prototype is completed later this year, Robonaut will have a second arm and one leg, which will provide support for the arms.
The robonaut's grip is much worse than that of a human, it can only lift about 9.5 kg. But this force is enough to work in the weightlessness of space. The way of operating the Robonaut is taken straight from the world of science fiction. The operator wears stereoscopic binoculars, which show everything the robot's camera eyes see, and a glove full of sensors to control the hand and arm. By moving the glove, the operator instructs Robonaut how far to stretch his arms and turn his wrist. When the technology is improved, the glove will provide the operator with a sense of touch, says project manager Robert Ambrose and adds: "At the point where you stop thinking of him as a robot and think of him as an extension of a person, you've succeeded."
The Robonaut will not be sent into space in the next five years (in the meantime, on Earth, it will be possible to use the Robonaut in the dangerous conditions of nuclear facilities or refineries). After that, he will initially focus on preparing the outer work sites for the astronauts. This will save valuable spacewalk time. Ambrose says that if the first missions are successful, the future applications of the Robonaut are almost limitless. "Wouldn't it be great if every spacecraft had a robot that could go out and make repairs"? he asks.
{Appeared in Haaretz newspaper, 1/8/2000}
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