Amidst today's technologies and innovations on science, space missions, and many others, NASA announced on Wednesday, November 18 that MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), one of two university research groups, is given the privilege to test and develop a 6-foot, 290-pound humanoid robot intended for future space missions to Mars and beyond.
According to a recent report, a group led by CSAIL principal investigator Russ Tedrake will design and enhance algorithms for the robot, known as "Valkyrie" or "R5". Taken as part of NASA's upcoming Space Robotics Challenge that is aimed towards creating better robots to be sent to Mars in time.
These dexterous autonomous robots, originally developed to work in disaster zones, are said to help or even take the place of humans "extreme space" missions. According to NASA, humanoid robots will be "an integral part of future journeys beyond the Earth". This sprouted from the idea that extreme space environments are "often testing and dangerous for human astronauts".
Humanoids can really be of a great help especially in making situations like this easier to endure by performing and executing mission tasks before humans proceed with their missions, or work as "human-assistive robots" alongside astronauts.
"Advances in robotics, including human-robotic collaboration, are critical to developing the capabilities required for our journey to Mars," Steve Jurczyk, associate administrator for the Space Technology Mission Directorate at Nasa, said. "We are excited to engage these university research groups to help NASA with this next big step in robotics technology development."
Tedrake's research team at CSAIL have much experience and skills working with autonomous robots such as Valkyrie. They are the same team who has worked with a similar humanoid in the previous years. Teaching the robot how to open doors, turn valves, drill holes, climb stairs, and drive a car within the space of an hour. In this mission, it is reported that his team will receive around $250,000 (£165,000) a year for two years to help develop Valkyrie's algorithms.
