Robot Wars Magazine is a 68 page monthly publication available from W.H. Smith in the UK price £3.50. It is also available in the USA, Australia and New Zealand. The magazine features practical articles on robot building and a monthly column of speculations on the future of robotics. Copies of some of the articles from earlier issues are included here. Read more »
Embodiment of robots and computers are very similar to humans, and viewers in suspense. This is the “uncanny valley” effect. One hypothesis for this effect, the real composite is similar to human evoke the notion of a human, it is because the lack of healthy human image, in the evolution of human attempts to avoid such unhealthy developed to describe the resulting emotions. This time, in order to verify whether the emotions have evolutionary origins of this instability, Read more »
The space shuttle Endeavor in the U.S. NASA will be released on 11 Eastern time U.S., as scheduled. 7 astronauts and concentrated on October 9th at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This space trip Endeavor send the “robot alien” developed by Canada and the experimental module “La Esperanza” developed by Japan to the International Space Station.
It is an arduous task that flight of Endeavor, which set a new record in the duration and the number of spacewalks by astronauts on flight tasks NASA to establish the International Space Station. This space trip will last 16 days as scheduled. Its main task is sent to the International Space Station two-armed robot named Dextre and the experimental module “La Esperanza”, developed by Canada and Japan, respectively.
To install the robot and the experimental module on the International Space Station, astronauts intend to make 5 spacewalks. The total operation time will be approximately 30 hours. The astronauts jokingly call the Dextre two-armed robot developed by Canada Frankenstein, “Strange Science” described by the English writer Mary Shelley. Dextre, with arms of approximately 3.4 meters long each and about shoulder width 2.4 meters, is about 3.7 meters high, weighing 1550 kilos and has no legs or face.
Dextre, the robot’s name comes from the English word “Dexterous. Like its name, the robot can rotate freely on their waist and each of its two arms has 7 joints. In his hands, rather tongs, handles are installed, cameras and lights. However, Dextre can work with only one arm each time to avoid imbalance or shock in his hands. The initial purpose of developing Dextre is to help astronauts maintain the space telescope “Hubble” and the astronauts of the ISS to accomplish tasks and meet certain hazardous tasks outside the module in place of astronauts.
A mission to determine if robots, like spiders, they can build complex structures in space, will be launched in January 2006 according to ew Scientist magazine. The spider bots could build large structures from a “web” released from a larger spacecraft. The engineers behind the project plan to eventually construct colossal solar panels for satellites that will transmit solar energy back to Earth. The satellites could reflect and concentrate the sun’s rays on a power receiving station on Earth or perhaps in the form of microwaves.
The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency launched a satellite called Furoshiki on 18 January 2006, which will conduct three experiments to test this idea. The satellite will be deployed from a rocket into a suborbital trajectory. This means that scientists will have only 10 minutes of microgravity in which to perform their tests before the craft starts its descent back to Earth and eventually burns up in the atmosphere. The first experiment will see three small satellites separated from the mother ship and stretch out to form two corners of a triangular net with it.
Onboard cameras will be used to constantly check the network as possible, which measures 40 meters on each side, and that the satellites do not become entangled in the web.
Orbital web
Later, two smaller robots, called RobySpace Junior 1 and 2 will be sent from the mothership and maneuver along the filaments of the fabric.
These spider robots could one day be used to construct large pieces of sets of solar reflectors. The prototype robots, built by engineers at the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Vienna University of Technology, will test how to maneuver throughout the network in the absence of gravity.
Each robot has a set of wheels that can grip both sides of a network line to avoid floating off into space. “Hopefully we can prove first that it is possible to move along a very thin, free-floating in a controlled manner,” says Leopold Summerer Advanced Concepts Team of ESA. While robots are being deployed, a ground station will instruct the mother satellite and satellites to synchronize their children microwave antennas and beam a signal back to a receiving station on Earth.
One small step :The mission will last only a short time but will cost much less than an experiment in orbit. “We wanted to try an experiment of longer duration in satellites,” says Nobuyuki Kaya, an engineer from the University of Kobe, Japan, who is working on the satellite’s microwave experiment.
“But we have no budget. We think this is only a first step.”
A satellite capable of beaming one billion watts of electricity generated by the sun and sent back to Earth would probably need a solar panel with an area of one square kilometer. The spider robots could also be used to build massive communication antennas or a shield to protect satellites from orbiting space junk.
The big advantage of space robots is that they need neither food nor drink and can work in inhospitable conditions. More importantly, although expensive to design and produce, their loss is always preferable to an astronaut. In the edition of November 2004 ASTRA robots designed in the Space Research Laboratory of the Technical Center of ESA in the Netherlands attracted much attention.On Earth, robots often take repetitive tasks or when human health is jeopardized. They are used to assemble cars, deactivate bombs, weld pipes at the bottom of the sea and work in nuclear power plants, “says Gianfranco Visentin, Head of Automation Robotics Section at ESA ESTEC in the Netherlands.
“In the space even more attractive to use robots,” he emphasizes. “They can support or replace people to perform tasks that are too dangerous, difficult, repetitive, time-consuming or even impossible for astronauts. They can be quicker and more accurate people” jokingly adding, “They can work 24 hours a day and do not stop for lunch or sleep “.
What is a space robot?
In the space community can call any unmanned spacecraft, a robotic spacecraft, but Visentin prefers a more specific description: “A system having mobility and the ability to manipulate objects plus the flexibility to perform any combination of these tasks autonomously or by remote control.
“The objective of space robots is basically to perform an action in space such as position an instrument to take a measurement, collect a sample for examination, assemble a structure or even move around an astronaut.”
In no ways space robots are different from their brothers on Earth, they basically replace a human performing an action.
But those who are destined to space must meet some specific requirements:
- Resist a pitch. – Operate in difficult environmental conditions and often in very remote locations.
- Weighing as little as possible, as any burden, its release is very expensive.
- Consume less energy and have a long functional life.
- Operating independently.
- Be extremely reliable.
“To respond to these advanced technological challenges are very complex systems required,” says Visentin, “sounds like a big problem, but space gives us great opportunities to create robots that could not otherwise be made for use on Earth . “The biggest advantage is the almost zero gravity in outer space. This means that everything weighs much less than on Earth and even the heaviest object can be moved and raised with little effort, so a small robot can move objects enormous. ”
Types of robots :
The robot most commonly used in space missions is the rover (wanderers). This vehicle can move around the surface of another planet transporting scientific instruments. Usually both the vehicle and the instruments are operated autonomously. ESA, in collaboration with European industry, has developed the incredibly small micro-rover Nanokhod. Although only the size of a large book and weighing just 2 kg it can transport and position 1 kg. of instruments within a small radius around the “lander” (landing ship).
A larger robot has been developed to collect soil samples from other planets. The mini-rover MIRO-2 from 12 kg a robotic drill that can collect up to 10 samples from a depth of 2 m. It then returns to the lander where the samples can be analyzed by the scientific instruments on board.
A third mini-rover of 15 kg has been developed by ESA is powered entirely by solar energy. Solero mini-rover that uses miniature batteries to store electricity on board. It also has an innovative chassis. Its six wheels arranged on the vertices of a hexagon enable it to operate in very irregular terrain.
Studying Nature
Robot designers often inspired by nature. A good example is the impressive Aramie / Scorpion developed by ESA. With his legs and the movement inspired by the animal is capable of operating in rugged terrain and dunes.
Another example is EUROBOT as big as a human being is designed to perform the tasks of an astronaut on the International Space Station. EUROBOT be able to climb the outside of the space station, attach itself to the rails like an astronaut and be tele-operated by the crew inside.
Nature also inspired the hopping robot. With just under 40 cm. high it can leap over obstacles up to six feet high, a feat impossible on Earth due to gravity but fairly easy to accomplish on the Moon or Mars.
Visentin emphasizes that research in the ESA is aimed specifically at space issues and are not interesting or profitable for terrestrial use and does not duplicate what is already available. “Whenever possible we re-use robotics technology used for applications on Earth, but some operations required for space exploration are of no use on Earth. For instance, nobody would want to make a robotic field biologist to explore the Earth, even with the most advanced technology the result would always be far below that of a real biologist, at least today. On Mars, however, is currently the only option. ”
The constraint of space.
The space raises many issues not faced by robots for use on Earth. The low pressure in the orbit leads to cold-weld metal parts together, atomic oxygen can react with almost any material and nullifies the cooling benefits of electronic transmission.
Radiation also differs from that encountered on Earth and in space, heavy particles make digital electronics misbehave or even burn. Thermal conditions are also extreme, with external temperatures ranging from more or less, 100 ° C.
Another characteristic of space missions is that robots have to operate far from their base. Radio signals to control and monitor them have to travel for a long time and this introduces communications delays that prevent tele-operation in real time or near real time. Space robots, therefore, must be able to work alone and solve any problems that occur while performing their tasks. The ESA’s space engineers have learned to cope with all these problems. Qualified design techniques, materials, hardware and electronics components are specifically designed to work reliably despite these effects.
“We continue research into new types of robots that can cope with the special conditions of space, go where humans can not and that will help astronauts manage the enormous amount of work on the International Space Station,” says Visentin.
The experimental SCARA (Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm) Robot ressemblesan industrial robot, but is a lot smaller and less precise. The mechanics consist of one linear and three rotational axes, with the rotational axes oriented vertically,so that gravitation has no effect on these axes. The working space is 410mm indiameter and 128mm high, with an position accuracy of 0.5mm. Read more »
Barack Obama will have to choose between continuing military operations lost forward in the Middle East, or fund space exploration. It will be a strategic choice for America, but also a choice for Europe. At this level, we should speak of a choice of civilization. The Committee appointed by Barack Obama to evaluate the U.S. program of human spaceflight and human exploration Read more »
Two years ago, the robot of Exploration Mars, Spirit, landed in the crater Gusev. The rover marked its first anniversary on Mars (687 days land) in November 2005 (see our news ). Shortly before the anniversary, the camera from the orbiter Mars Global Surveyor (AMS) carried a photograph covering an area d ‘about 3 km of side pointing to the location of the robot in the region of Columbia Hills. Read more »
The crew aboard the International Space Station plugged and connected successfully Harmony connecting node that will be moored on the European science laboratory in early December.
Built by Thales Alenia Space, Harmony was delivered to the ISS on STS-120 and installed in its final position on the U.S. Destiny science laboratory on 14 November. 2 days earlier, the astronauts had detached from Destiny pressurized adapter (PMA-2), a joint junction that allows shuttles to dock, to attach Harmony.
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