It's alive! Space station's humanoid robot is wide awake

Ground controllers turned Robonaut on Monday for the first time since it was delivered to the International Space Station in February. The test involved sending power to all of Robonaut's systems. The robot was not commanded to move; that will happen next week.

This is going to be fun to watch. I wonder how will they work in that environment.

"Robonaut behaved himself," said deputy project manager Nicolaus Radford. "Oh, Robonaut definitely got an 'A.' He won't be held back a grade, if that's what you want to know." "It was just very exciting," he said. "It's been a long time coming to get this thing turned on."

I am glad he has a nice personality.

"It's been asleep for about a year, so it kind of has to stretch out a little bit," Radford told The Associated Press. "Just like a crew member has to kind of acclimate themselves to zerogravity, our robot has to do a very similar thing, kind of wiggle itself and learn how it needs to move" in weightlessness.

Seems like a year is a long time to sit unused on the ISS.

For now, Robonaut — also called R2 — is designed to stay inside the space station. Future versions might venture out on spacewalks, saving astronauts time while keeping them safe.

How long will it be before these robots completely end human space flight.

With all the junk floating around up there. How long before it's not deemed safe for man?

I have mixed emotions.....But you have to love it's name "R2".

Story

Old "ATS" thread with prototype videos

Whatever you do... dont give him a brain ;-;

Very neat

Thanks for sharing

I always wondered why and what we were paying for, when it comes to the ISS. Now I know where several trillion taxpayer dollars have gone. Thank you for th thread

Originally posted by CherubBaby
I always wondered why and what we were paying for, when it comes to the ISS. Now I know where several trillion taxpayer dollars have gone. Thank you for th thread

Lol the iss is international though isnt it?

reply to post by spw184


Yes. The ISS is an International Space Station.. I didn't say that The US Tax Payer was the only one on the hook for the money!! Did I?

Originally posted by whyamIhere

How long will it be before these robots completely end human space flight.

With all the junk floating around up there. How long before it's not deemed safe for man?

The thing is there is a lot of junk floating out there, and it isn't really safe for man. Not with our current technology, and the nature of all these unexplored territories. I think 'robots' will end manned space missions, and I think that's a great thing. Collecting information is what we are doing right now, and we don't need people for this.

At least in the beginning. We want to, and need to, colonize space. When we are able to do this, and establish a live-able environment out there, and have much safer means of travelling the galaxy, then we will put people back in the spaceships. That's what I think anyways.

reply to post by whyamIhere


That's pretty awesome! I never even heard about this until now. Thanks for sharing. S & F. I hope it doesn't replace humans traveling in space ever.

Throw one of these R2's in a ship and send them to MARS ASAP!

Originally posted by Authenticated
I hope it doesn't replace humans traveling in space ever.

Throw one of these R2's in a ship and send them to MARS ASAP!

hehe

Are you okay with unmanned exploration in the deep sea?

That's the old GM there is no warranty
because of bankruptcy.

Open the door Hal!

I'm sorry Steve, I can't do that.

I'm all in favor of Robonaut. Hope to see GM mass-producing his kind soon, for space duties and for Earth duties.

reply to post by underspace



When you look at the Space junk map.

Space Junk Map

It would quickly scare the rational person to death.

However, nobody ever accused our astronauts of being rational people.

reply to post by whyamIhere


Honestly I meant 'junk' to mean anything and everything and not the literal junkyard. Thanks for that link I wasn't too familiar with that...

Interesting.

Yeah don't be surprised if our first contact with an Alien race would be with an Alien Robot, or vice versa

reply to post by underspace


There are plenty of volunteers out there who would literally die to get a chance to go to Mars or any other parts of the universe. I guess robots will last a lot longer than humans and they don't need food or water.

reply to post by balon0


I have no doubt I very much dream the day we are all able to zip around space and explore other planets. I sympathize with the longing.. At this stage all we are doing is information gathering... doing that without the loss of lives is a great luxury for mankind I think.

Really cute video. I had heard about this guy earlier.

One comment mentioned "brains." Ha-ha, right? Think again: Give that machine a little more mobility and it looks more and more interesting as an alternative to sending humans into space. All it needs to do is to be able to "think" a little better...

...now let's take a trip over to the far side. There are several reports from several people that the little "grey aliens" that have been interacting with some of us here on earth are actually biological robots. To keep that biology running requires some sort of consciousness. In fact, most reports are that these little guys are quite intelligent. So: what is providing that consciousness?

The answer I've gotten from several sources is: It's the being. The "being." The thing that scientists don't want to study because they either can't figure out how or they are too scared. It's the entity that remembers past lives (Dr. Ian Stevenson and others). It's the entity that "sees my own body" in out-of-body experiences. Truth is, studying beings is easy. You just walk up to their body and start talking to them. For a long time now the body of preference has been of the "meat" (biological) variety. However, beings can inhabit non-biological objects. And if they are as complex as R2, it might even be kind of fun. But not for the guys at Mission Control who think it's "just a robot!"

That's where all of this is going, whether anyone is willing to admit it or not. I suggest that we at least should be aware of this as a real possibility.

Originally posted by l_e_cox
There are several reports from several people that the little "grey aliens" that have been interacting with some of us here on earth are actually biological robots.

Some say humans are biological robots. How would they be different in this sense?

To keep that biology running requires some sort of consciousness.

Biology requires consciousness? Is bacteria conscious?

Because Robonaut has some flammable parts, NASA wants it stored in its fireproof bag.

Does anybody know what is so flammable?

Are the just talking about plastics and rubber.

A pair of legs currently are being designed and should be launched in 2013.

I'm not a scientist...But the robot may need those legs.