Many folks would like to see us back on the Moon and developing its resources.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Star Wars Meets UPS as Robonaut Packed for Space

Pack your bags, we are going to the ISS and don't leave Robonaut  2 behind.
- LRK -

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Star Wars Meets UPS as Robonaut Packed for Space
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/behindscenes/robonautpacking.html

Getting into space isn't necessarily easy for astronauts, and it's not much easier for a robotic astronaut, either.

Cocooned inside an aluminum frame and foam blocks cut out to its shape, Robonaut 2, or R2, is heading to the International Space Station inside the Permanent Multipurpose Module in space shuttle Discovery's payload bay as part of the STS-133 mission.

Once in place inside the station, R2, with its humanlike hands and arms and stereo vision, is expected to perform some of the repetitive or more mundane functions inside the orbiting laboratory to free astronauts for more complicated tasks and experiments. It could one day also go along on spacewalks.

Making sure the first humanoid robot to head into space still works when it gets there has been the focus of workers at NASA's Kennedy and Johnson space centers. Engineers and technicians with decades of experience among them packing for space have spent the last few months devising a plan to secure the 330-pound machine against the fierce vibrations and intense gravity forces during launch.

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Trip should take place in November on STS-133.  Hopefully there will be some follow up as to how R2 helps the astronauts.
- LRK -

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Space Shuttle Mission: STS-133
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html
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Launch Preps Move Ahead for Mission to International Space Station

Image
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/153212main_robonautlindsey430x.jpg

Image above: STS-133 Commander Steve Lindsey talks about Robonaut 2, a humanoid robot built to assist astronauts on the International Space Station. R2, as the machine is known, is going to fly aboard Discovery during the STS-133 mission. He will remain on the station after Discovery returns to Earth. Photo credit:  NASA
› Larger image http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/180842main_robonautlindsey.jpg

During space shuttle Discovery's final spaceflight, the STS-133 crew members will take important spare parts to the International Space Station along with the Express Logistics Carrier-4. Discovery is being readied for flight inside Kennedy's Orbiter Processing Facility-3 while its solid rocket boosters are stacked inside the nearby Vehicle Assembly Building. STS-133 is slated to launch Nov. 1.

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Read up on the history behind R2, JSC, DARPA, GM..
- LRK -

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R2 Latest Update
Project M History and Driving Philosophy
http://robonaut.jsc.nasa.gov/default.asp

Project M was conceived last fall in the Engineering Directorate at the Johnson Space Center. There were several things swirling in the environment at the time. One was a simple management desire to coordinate the technology efforts going on across the Directorate. We were already doing significant work advancing LOX/LCH4 propulsion systems -work funded at multiple centers by the Exploration Technology Development Program (ETDP). We were already leading the development of the Autonomous Landing and Hazard Avoidance Technology Project (ALHAT), also funded by ETDP. We also had this magnificent  machine we had built with General Motors, Robonaut 2 (R2), funded primarily by GM. Coordinating those and other disparate efforts and focusing them toward a project with tangible milestones seemed sensible in order to leverage the greatest return from those investments.
Continue Reading
http://robonaut.jsc.nasa.gov/future/HistoryandPhilosophy/#continued

Background

The idea of using dexterous, human-like robots capable of using their hands to do intricate work is not new to the aerospace industry. The original Robonaut, a humanoid robot designed for space travel, was built by the software, robotics and simulation division at Johnson in a collaborative effort with the Defense Advanced  Research Project Agency 10 years ago. During the past decade, NASA gained significant expertise in building robotic technologies for space applications.  These capabilities will help NASA launch a bold new era of space exploration.

The first generation Robonaut was designed by the Robot Systems Technology Branch at NASA's Johnson Space Center in a collaborative effort with DARPA. The Robonaut project seeks to develop and demonstrate a robotic system that can function as an EVA astronaut equivalent. Robonaut jumps generations ahead by eliminating the robotic scars (e.g., special robotic grapples and targets) and specialized robotic tools of traditional on-orbit robotics. However, it still keeps the human operator in the control loop through its telepresence control system. Robonaut is designed to be used for "EVA" tasks, i.e., those which were not specifically designed for robots.

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Now here is a thought.
- LRK -

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Why the U.S. government terminated the CEO and shareholders of GM.
Aug 5, 2010
http://nbgazette.com/index.php?entry=entry100805-203847

Meet Robonaut 2 – or R2 for short – the humanoid robot designed jointly between GM and NASA through a Space Act Agreement at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Faster and more dexterous than any other humanoid robot, Robonaut 2 can work side-by-side with humans in a work environment –thanks to “leading edge control, sensor and vision technologies” — and could eventually be used to assist astronauts with dangerous missions. R2 is a state of the art highly dexterous anthropomorphic robot.

Advanced technology spans the entire R2 system and includes: optimized overlapping dual arm dexterous workspace, series elastic joint technology, extended finger and thumb travel, miniaturized 6-axis load cells, redundant force sensing, ultra-high speed joint controllers, extreme neck travel, and high resolution camera and IR systems. The dexterity of R2 allows it to use the same tools that astronauts currently use and removes the need for specialized tools just for robots.

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Project M was conceived last fall in the Engineering Directorate at the Johnson Space Center. Robonaut 2 (R2), has been funded primarily by GM using government bailout money. NASA and General Motors are working together to accelerate development of the next generation of robots and related technologies.

Why do they need to accelerate development? Why now?

GM went into bankruptcy because they made and still make cars and trucks nobody wants. The U.S. government didn’t force GM into bankruptcy to take it over and continue to make over priced gas guzzling vehicles. The U.S. government bought GM for its cutting edge Ai (Artificial intelligence) technology. GM is now being used as a front to finance new stealth military AI technology. On the government financial books it will state GM bailout funding but the funding is actually to build a new army. An army of Ai soldiers. NASA and now the U.S. owned GM have teamed up to make perhaps the most frightening thing imaginable.

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Maybe I should go watch the movie "I Robot" again. :-)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Robot_%28film%29
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0343818/

I guess you can check in on what Robonaut 2 has to say, oops, no voice, how about text.
- LRK -

http://twitter.com/AstroRobonaut
AstroRobonaut

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NASA's Robonaut 2 To Tweet From Space
http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1898797/nasas_robonaut_2_to_tweet_from_space/index.html
Posted on: Saturday, 31 July 2010, 07:35 CDT

Download full size image
NASA's Robonaut 2 To Tweet From Space

Posted on: Saturday, 31 July 2010, 07:35 CDT

NASA's Robonaut 2 has no voice but is ready to tell you its story -- in 140 characters or less. The prototype robot will travel to space this fall to give NASA a deeper understanding of human-robotic interaction.

Called R2, the robot has started sending updates about its upcoming mission from its new Twitter account, @AstroRobonaut. With the help of its supporting team, R2 will document its preparations for launch and, eventually, its work aboard the International Space Station.

"Hello World! My name is Robonaut 2 -- R2 for short," R2 and the team tweeted this week. "Follow my adventures here as I prepare for space!"

Follow R2's updates on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/AstroRobonaut

The public will get the first chance to interview the robot when R2 and its team answer questions submitted via Twitter at 10 a.m. on Aug. 4. Twitter followers can submit their questions to R2 in real time by including the hashtag #4R2 in their questions tweeted to @AstroRobonaut.

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 Red planet Intro & AMEE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d37JWwzcTR4

Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
Comments accepted here - http://lunar-update.blogspot.com/
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Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
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http://www.nasa.gov/topics/moonmars/index.html
Latest Features

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Latest News Release
   *
     NASA Seeks Data from Innovative Lunar Demonstrations
     http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/aug/HQ_10-185_ILDD_BAA.html
     08.06.10 - NASA has issued a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) to purchase specific data resulting from industry efforts to test and verify vehicle capabilities through demonstrations of small robotic landers.
   *
     NASA And ESA'S First Joint Mission To Mars Selects Instruments
     http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/aug/HQ_10-181_Joint_Mars_Mission.html
     08.02.10 - NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) have embarked on a joint program to explore Mars in the coming decades and selected the five science instruments for the first mission.
   *
     NASA's Hibernating Mars Rover May Not Call Home
     http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/jul/HQ_10-182_Spirit_Hibernation.html
     07.30.10 - NASA mission controllers have not heard from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit since March 22, and the rover is facing its toughest challenge yet – trying to survive the harsh Martian winter.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY-SJyS18lA
NASA to launch R2 to join Space Station Crew
 NASAJSCER  |   April 12, 2010

NASA will launch the first human-like robot to space later this year to become a permanent resident of the International Space Station. Robonaut 2, or R2, was developed jointly by NASA and General Motors under a cooperative agreement to develop a robotic assistant that can work alongside humans, whether they be astronauts in space or workers at GM manufacturing plants on Earth.

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Robonaut 2: Your Future Coworker?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g3qzOZLs6s&feature=related

 DiscoveryNetworks  |   February 05, 2010

For more videos, go to www.discoverynews.com. Cutting-edge robots, recently unveiled by NASA and General Motors, will work next to humans on Earth and in space. Jorge Ribas reports on the twin machines dubbed Robonaut 2.

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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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