
Robonaut Has Been Broken for Years, and Now NASA Is Bringing It Home - mcspecter
https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/space-robots/robonaut-has-been-broken-for-years-and-now-nasa-is-bringing-it-home
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phaedrus
I was fortunate to get to see Robonaut in its home lab on two separate
occasions 2006 - 2008. It is/was mainly a platform for research in
teleoperation and hand-gripping. I was confused when I first saw a news item,
years ago, about it going up to the ISS, because while it was forward looking
to this purpose, it didn't seem like the prototype itself was intended for
this. I think they'd have done some things differently if they knew the
prototype itself was going to go up - probably make it smaller and lighter for
one. But do remember, when this was started was before things like the
Raspberry Pi, so a lot of components (computers, cameras, actuators) were
bigger then than they would be now.

It was interesting to see the design evolve. For instance the first-generation
Robonaut hand was based on human anatomy. One of the researchers spoke to hand
surgeons and even observed real surgeries to learn about this anatomy. So the
fingers of the first-generation hand were endoskeleton-supported. But on my
second visit I got to see parts from a version of the hand they had just (or
were just about to) put in. These were more of an exoskeleton design, like a
loop/outline of each segment of a finger. (Unlike an insect exoskeleton, these
segments were not fully enclosed; think of like a 2D loop not 3D tube.)
Apparently the second design gave more room to put sensors in the fingers
(and, I imagine, protected the sensors better). Once the glove is on the hand,
you can't tell the difference.

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JoeAltmaier
I don't know, seems a little goofy, to make a humanoid robot. I know, it has
to operate the same equipment that humans operate etc. But humans suck at zero
gravity - there has to be a better solution for the ISS. Space spider? Zero-g-
octopod? Slithering station snake? Something.

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losteric
Octopod forms are a better fit, but no doubt more complex to build and control
over telepresence...

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JoeAltmaier
Oh I used to operate an Alien in AVP and did pretty well crawling on ceilings
and thru ductwork...just have to have the right operator.

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post_break
I got to see him in 2010 before he went up. Actually got to see the prototype
with the acrylic chest. It was kind of awkward because my friend who worked at
NASA took us into the room where the engineers were all working on him and
just stared at us gawking at the robot.

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JabavuAdams
Dem legs! So disturbing to see them bend that way. Why did this thing need to
be humanoid? Seems sub-optimal and uncanny.

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nitrogen
Not to discount the work of roboticists, but that seems like a huge waste of
space and weight. Were there significant gains from putting a prototype into
space instead of perfecting it on the ground?

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robotresearcher
If you want to learn about how to do robots in microgravity, you have to
really do it. It’s not just controls but also how lubricants behave, how dust
and crud behaves in motors, and all the little things.

I think the human form factor is not the most useful, but it’s going to be
important eventually to be able to do manipulation in orbit.

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ocdtrekkie
The human(ish, see the legs) form factor is likely preferable because they had
ground controllers operating it in a telepresence design. If a human is trying
to do things a human would do if they were there, a human shape is a good one.
And many things they will manipulate were designed to be manipulated by
humans.

Since we can't beam a specialist into space when we break something, the next
best thing would be if that specialist could take over control of a humanoid
robot in space they can directly control there to intervene and help fix a
problem.

Perhaps someday when they have a problem with their humanoid robot in space, a
roboticist can take control of another humanoid robot up there to perform the
repair work.

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robotresearcher
Yes, those are the arguments they used. In particular it had to be able to use
astronaut hand tools, which are designed for pressure suit gloved hands. On
the downside the form factor is rather complex.

I recall a presentation when one of the very talented engineers that built it
said (roughly) we made the robot now all you have to do (you being the robot
AI) people in the room) is make it autonomous. A 30 DOF semi-android in
microgravity? Piece of cake.... :|

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jpm_sd
It uses CompactPCI internally? How delightfully antiquated.

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moftz
You can get plenty of modern stuff to go into a MicroTCA chassis. For what is
essentially an industrial computer hooked up to motors and sensors, that kind
of base hardware is perfect for the role.

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jpm_sd
The modern approach to robotics uses a high (-ish) speed serial bus - CAN 20
years ago, EtherCAT today - and a distributed network. Centralized chassis
based systems are fragile and difficult to upgrade!

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BrandonMarc
What ever happened to SPHERES? Or, Int-Ball?

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deepsun
Probably, it was deliberately broken by astronauts so that robots don't take
their jobs :)

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JorgeGT
It was a grounding problem. It is _always_ a grounding problem.

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jaclaz
>It is _always_ a grounding problem.

... or a cold solder joint, very often a cold solder joint on the ground
connection ... ;)

