Robots will be doing a lot of our space exploration for us in the future. How do astronauts will control these robots though? As this video shows, from the ISS, NASA astronaut Johnny Kim is operating a team of robots on the ground. It is all part of an experiment called Surface Avatar. The idea was to use ESA’s four-legged Spot and DLR’s humanoid Rollin’ Justin to retrieve sample containers and deliver them to the lander. Another part of this was to use the rover to transport a robot dog to a cave entrance. As a part of that, the robot dog simulated a malfunction in one of its legs. Jonny trained its walking algorithm in real-time to continue with the mission.
These robots are controlled through a joystick and haptic feedback device. The interface lets astronauts switch between first-person view and top down.
[HT]
