Thursday, August 25, 2011

Robot Tweets From Externa; Space

The initial human-like wanderer drudge - Robonaut 2 or R2 - has awakened at the International Space Station - and already proposed tweeting.

"Those electrons feel GOOD! One tiny step for man, a hulk jump for tinman kind," mentioned the robot's initial tweet.

R2 was brought to the ISS in February 2011 on house of space convey Discovery.

It has been written to work to one side humans, assisting them both inside and outward the station.

Although there were tweets sent from R2s account (@astrorobonaut) before it "woke up", right away its scarcely 40,000 supporters can rest positive the drudge is truly actively "tweeting" as its circuits are operational.

It is even responding to questions and sending birthday greetings.

R2 weighs 136kg (300 pounds), has a torso, two human-like arms and hands, and wears a golden steel sheet with a visor on its head.

The "tinman" has nonetheless to obtain its legs, but for right away it will stay trustworthy to a prearranged base.

At a few indicate even though NASA will supply it with a leg - for rock climbing by the station's corridors.

Eventually, the torso might be mounted on a four-wheeled corsair called Centaur 2 for probable explorations of Lunar and Martian surfaces.

There are currently 4 Robonauts on Earth - but R2 is ample more advanced.

According to NASA, the drudge is "capable of reaching speeds more than 4 times faster than R1, is more compact, is more dexterous, and includes a deeper and wider operation of sensing."

R2 has been essentially written to uncover how deft robots cope in a easy mood - but NASA hopes that finally it will obtain out of the hire to support its human colleagues on spacewalks.

"R2 is the initial humanoid drudge in space," mentioned NASA in a matter on its website.

"R2, right away unpacked, will be initially operated inside the Destiny laboratory for functional testing, but over time, both its domain and its applications could expand."

However there was bad headlines for drudge fans anticipating to see the new personality on its return. "There are no skeleton to lapse R2 to Earth," mentioned Nasa.

The US space group mentioned that the R2 plan sharp to the future of space exploration, not as a deputy for humans, but as a companion, able of carrying out ancillary roles.

"The amalgamated prospective of humans and robots is a best e.g. of the total equalling more than the parts," mentioned John Olson, executive of NASA's Exploration Systems Integration Office, quoted on the agency's website.

"It will enable us to go over and accomplish more than you can probably even suppose today."

It took NASA and General Motors 15 years to erect the human-like robot.

If the assignment is a success, future R2-like "droids" could be sent in to space to bring out functions on satellites.

They could even venture all the way to Mars - to hope for is to attainment of their human masters on the red planet.

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