• Nasa & Gm's new Space Robots
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[IMG]http://technabob.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/021010_rg_NasaRobonaut_02.jpg[/IMG] You read the title correctly: [url]http://news.discovery.com/videos/space-robonaut-2-your-future-coworker.html[/url][quote]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.[/quote][quote] Springing off the heels of a successful repair mission to the [URL="http://news.discovery.com/space/best-hubble-space-telescope-images-2009.html"]Hubble Space Telescope[/URL], NASA has been quietly working on developing a new specialty: [URL="http://www.howstuffworks.com/satellite.htm"]satellite[/URL] repair-bots. The goal of the NASA project is to demonstrate to commercial firms the feasibility of refueling, repairing and servicing spacecraft in orbit. There are more than 360 operational commercial satellites and hundreds of government spacecraft currently in orbit, many of which will run out of fuel long before they sustain electronics or other systems failures. "It's our idea to stimulate a pathfinder kind of mission," said Frank Cepolina, a Hubble mission development manager now spearheading NASA's new Satellite Servicing Development Office at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "Once we're done, commercial takes over."[/quote][quote] The first of what could be several demonstration missions is expected to fly on the International Space Station sometime next year. The plan is to use Dextre, the station's Canadian-built [URL="http://news.discovery.com/tech/robonaut-humanoid-robots.html"]robot[/URL], to demonstrate autonomous orbital refueling. Outfitted with smart sensors and tools, Dextre would basically pump fuel through tank valves that are identical to equipment flying on hundreds of satellites today. The robot would have to remove insulation, disconnect safety wires and prepare ports as part of the job. "We want to demonstrate our ability to get up there...and pass fuel into valves and into a receiving tank, and do this test in many configurations, many different times," said Cepolina. Dextre already has been through the paces. Before it was launched to the space station, the Hubble team used it to test robotic servicing options for fixing the telescope. NASA initially canceled the shuttle servicing mission after the 2003 Columbia accident, believing it was too risky to fly astronauts anywhere but the space station. In the end, NASA reinstated the shuttle's mission to Hubble, which was successfully completed last year. The robotics work, however, was not in vain. Tools and techniques developed for the robotic servicing of Hubble were adapted for the shuttle mission, boosting productive of the spacewalking service teams. After the flight, NASA began thinking more generically about robotic satellite servicing. "We're trying to build an industry, not a government program in whatever NASA does and leave something behind," Dave Huntsman, who oversees commercial space initiatives at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., told Discovery News. "In area after area, we're falling behind. We're fourth in commercial launches now, with less than 10 percent of the market. We used to have 100 percent of the commercial satellite launch market," he said. "It isn't just a matter of money," Huntsman added. "It's whether the government leverages the money to leave a sustainable industry behind. The U.S. hasn't been doing that. That's why our competitive industries are falling behind." Cepolina's team would like to get its refueling demonstration gear on the last shuttle flight to the station, currently scheduled for September, but with just four flights remaining, there is a lot of competition. Ground demonstrations of robotic refueling are under way.[/quote][quote]"We're trying to build an industry, not a government program in whatever NASA does and leave something behind," Dave Huntsman, who oversees commercial space initiatives at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., told Discovery News.[/quote]Various Sources: [URL]http://news.discovery.com/space/robot-satellite-repair-nasa.html[/URL] [URL]http://www.zeitnews.org/index.php/Robotics/nasa-tests-handy-man-space-robots-for-orbital-repairs.html[/URL] [URL]http://news.discovery.com/space/greg-fish-astronaut-cyborg.html[/URL]
Holy fuck I expected badage boys, instead got this. Pleasantly surprised instead. Also this is awesome.
[quote]"We're trying to build an industry, not a government program in whatever NASA does and leave something behind,"[/quote] [b]YES.[/b] A robotics industry is fucking great
[QUOTE=Haxxer;27371634][b]YES.[/b] A robotics industry is fucking great[/QUOTE] Especially one that isn't a government detachment. Fuck yeah! Also, in before "I-Robot" human destruction reference. [img]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/i-robot-10.jpg[/img]
Oh awesome shit, awesome fucking shit. Times like these I just feel like yelling out SCIENCE! Or maybe ROBOTICS!
[QUOTE=Haxxer;27371634][b]YES.[/b] A robotics industry is fucking great[/QUOTE] Will get many people jobless I suppose.. So, if you want to get more "future proof" you might wanna considering doing something with your hands, something that is not for robots. Or jobs where you gotta help/work with people
Dummies, anyone? CC all over this bitch.
[QUOTE=Bat-shit;27372866]Will get many people jobless I suppose.. So, if you want to get more "future proof" you might wanna considering doing something with your hands, something that is not for robots. Or jobs where you gotta help/work with people[/QUOTE] Technology has been removing jobs for a long time, and it will continue to do so. The only way to fix this is to fix our definition of a 'job,' and find new ways of living life. Fuck the monetary system. [editline]12th January 2011[/editline] It isn't worth holding back efficient technology just so we don't have to employ a bunch of ass scratching lowlives to clean plates and do basic shit.
[QUOTE=Bat-shit;27372866]Will get many people jobless I suppose.. So, if you want to get more "future proof" you might wanna considering doing something with your hands, something that is not for robots. Or jobs where you gotta help/work with people[/QUOTE] Humans will for the foreseeable future have to handle high stress jobs, all this shit will do is effect manual labour. Stuff like healthcare and the armed forces and jobs in the same general vein will still require people for a very very very long time.
[QUOTE=Bat-shit;27372866]Will get many people jobless I suppose..[/QUOTE] those poor, satellite repairing astronauts, they'll have to become carpenters or something now [editline]12th January 2011[/editline] also, if you don't want to be made jobless by machines, do something like science, engineering or computer science, not something with your hands (the latter is more likely to be replaced by a robot)
[img]http://gyazo.com/fd2b181668664ccda4000defcc8e65a5.png[/img] [editline]12th January 2011[/editline] But yeah, this is amazing.
I remember seeing this GM robot half a year ago. It's a bit impressive, but it has limited movement. We won't see anything genuinely cool for another 10 years or so. Guess you have to start somewhere though.
[img_thumb]http://technabob.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/021010_rg_NasaRobonaut_02.jpg[/img_thumb] Looks an awful lot like Jet Jaguar [IMG_thumb]http://www.poeghostal.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/jet_jaguar_3.jpg[/IMG_thumb]
The idea of having America repair and refuel everyone's satellites is awesome, but we NEED a supply cannon or else launching rocket fuel will still cost an extraordinary amount of money. It's easily achieved with today's technology, but no one is willing to build it and test intercept of launched cargo. This would be the perfect thing to build one for. [url=http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-01/cannon-shooting-supplies-space][img]http://www.popsci.com/files/imagecache/article_image_large/articles/spacecannon2.jpg[/img][/url]
[QUOTE=Uber|nooB;27373055]those poor, satellite repairing astronauts, they'll have to become carpenters or something now [editline]12th January 2011[/editline] also, if you don't want to be made jobless by machines, do something like science, engineering or computer science, not something with your hands (the latter is more likely to be replaced by a robot)[/QUOTE] By doing something with your hands, I meant like arts and shit.
Fucking SCIENCE! :science:
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