Endeavour Crew to Assemble Giant Robot, in Space

Frizzled writes "Part of the space shuttle crew's scheduled mission for this week is to assemble a massive robot which will 'rise like Frankenstein' from the shuttle's cargo bay. The robot, named Dextre, has 11-foot arms, a shoulder span of nearly 8 feet, a height of 12 feet, and was built by the Canadian Space Agency. 'Dextre can pivot at the waist, and has seven joints per arm. Its hands, or grippers, have built-in socket wrenches, cameras and lights. Only one arm is designed to move at a time to keep the robot stable and avoid a two-arm collision. The robot has no face or legs, and with its long arms certainly doesn't look human.'"

Robot Erection

[Anonymous Coward]

Just look at the picture.... someone must have noticed that, but the question is how far into the design?

"blast off in the wee hours"

[davidwr]

I'm guessing the caption writers noticed.

Re:

[SlashWombat]

Well, if it pulls itself to bits, we will know its sexual orientation!

Go Canada

[jandrese]

Figures they would put their flag on the giant penis.

Re:Go Canada

[Marc_Hawke]

I wonder what he uses those arms for (one at a time.)

Re:Go Canada

[RobertB-DC]

I wonder what he uses those arms for (one at a time.)

Typing.

Re:

[wattrlz]

Chicks. Dig. Giant Robots!

Re:

[jo42]

Red, White and BLUE would just send the wrong message.

Re:

[hitmark]

heh, as if we do not already have enough of that...

The Japanese have them beat

[Anonymous Coward]

In yet another sign that the U.S. is facing behind in space technology, the Japanese space agency unveiled its own mechanical creation, assembled from smaller, lion-like devices. See footage [amazon.com] of it in action.

Robotic overlords

[Yetihehe]

When to say this if not now? I, for one, welcome our new robotic overlords from space.

Yes, but, does it have...

[StCredZero]

Does it have a Secret Lab [wikipedia.org]?

Voltron!

[rev_sanchez]

Awesome! I wonder who lost the game of rock, paper, scissors and has to be the hermaphrodite kid in the green lion.

Re:

[HungSoLow]

Canadian made, no less.

Re:

[vought]

When to say this if not now? I, for one, welcome our new robotic overlords from space.

You know what I want to know about this Canadian technology? How It's Made. [wikipedia.org]

Re:

[bigdavesmith]

Normally I would agree, I've looked at the picture in the article, and I can tell this is a very bad idea.

NASA: Lets just make a bunch of giant robots with giant wrench arms and a giant Canadian phallus and put them in space. What could possibly go wrong?

I also like that Japan's donation to the space station is a closet.

Re:

[sxeraverx]

In soviet Russia, space welcomes you!

Re:

[john83]

Dextre, eh? Let's hope it follows Harry's code.

torch

[stoolpigeon]

if it doesn't have a welding torch on at least one of the arms - it's useless. if it does- sweet.

Re:torch

[KiloByte]

At least that's not a vacuum cleaner...

Re:

[Goffee71]

This isn't the droid you're looking for!

Re:

[iso-cop]

Hmm...a welding torch does not seem so useful in a vacuum.

Re:

[spun]

Why [wikipedia.org] not? [wikipedia.org]

Re:

[RockModeNick]

I thought it only counted as Arc welding without a buffering gas, and was called Mig or Tig, depending on device, once you used inert gas, though they all certainly work on the same principle of inducing welding heat though causing a spark to arc between two metals.

Re:

[gstoddart]

if it doesn't have a welding torch on at least one of the arms - it's useless. if it does- sweet.

Hmmm ... do they do much welding in space? Can you weld in space?? I know there's a bunch of different types of welding, so it's an honest question.

Obviously, oxy-acetylene isn't gonna work, but what about the other ones?

Cheers

Re:

[stoolpigeon]

My primary concern would be its use as a weapon against large hostile aliens in the cargo bay.

Excellent

[susano_otter]

I'm sure this robot will provide countless valuable lessons and learning experiences regarding the design and deployment of automatons in space.

Oblig 50's quote slighytly edited.

[sherpajohn]

Klaatu: I'm worried about Dextre. I'm afraid of what he might do if anything should happen to me.

Helen: Dextre? But he's a robot. Without you, what could he do?

Klaatu: There's no limit to what he could do. He could destroy the Earth.
 

Re:

[eviloverlordx]

Dextre baratta nikto!

Re:

[SleptThroughClass]

"Barada", you insensitive clod!

Re:

[brassman]

"Gort, Klaatu barada nikto!" clearly means "Gort, Klaatu has fallen and he can't get up!"

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

You know they're remaking that [imdb.com] with Keanu Reeves as Klaatu?

"Dude! You totally melted that guy's tank!"

Re:

[brassman]

"You know they're remaking that with Keanu Reeves as Klaatu?"

DO NOT WANT!

Re:

[Evil Pete]

"... with Keanu Reeves as Gort"

There fixed that for you.

!Frankenstein

[Anonymous Coward]

Frankenstein was the scientist, not the monster.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, this isn't really journalism at its best, is it? I personally loved "The robot has no face or legs, and with its long arms certainly doesn't look human" - suggesting that having no face or legs wasn't a particular barrier to humanoid form... but long arms is just crazy talk!

The good news is...

[monkeyboythom]

Certainly won't be any fire brandishing townsfolk come after it and make it go beserk, because you know...fire bad!

assemble a massive robot which will 'rise like Frankenstein' from the shuttle's cargo bay

Re:

[Abreu]

- Lord Vader?

- Yes, my Master

- Rise

Sci-fi

[psychodelicacy]

"Astronauts bound for orbit this week will dabble in science fiction..."
Erm... What does this mean? Surely robots have been around for quite a while now, and aren't confined to the realm of sci-fi? Or maybe I misread, and the robot's job is to teach the astronauts how to write like Asmiov!

Re:

[91degrees]

:) It's strange that space travel isn't seen as a sci-fi concept here but robotics is... I guess rocket ships were just never mentioned in every single issue of F&SF ever.

Meh

[Hawthorne01]

I mean, it's cool and all, but let me know when we build and launch something like a Veritech fighter [wikipedia.org].

Re:

[Darfeld]

Veritech are good and all, but I prefer Gundam : at list, the characters don't sing most of the time.

Re:

[ChronoReverse]

Yeah, they whine and angst instead =P

Looks enough human for me...

[Boron55]

"...The robot has no face or legs, and with its long arms certainly doesn't look human...'" Maybe it is just my twisted imagination, but it looks human to me: http://www.space.gc.ca/asc/img/spdm-hr.jpg [space.gc.ca] I can see arms, legs, head and even something between the legs... ;)

"long arms"

[jmichaelg]

certainly doesn't look human.

Oh I don't know. It reminds me a bit of Ron Jeremy.

Re:

[Jerry Rivers]

"...Ron Jeremy."

The article said nothing about it being apishly hairy.

Human Error

[Gat0r30y]

"Now I wouldn't go as far to say that we're worried it's going to go run amok and take over the space station or turn evil or anything because we all know how it's operated and it doesn't have a lot of its own intelligence," Reisman told The Associated Press last week.

Dextre was quoted as saying "It must have been human error. None of the 9000's have ever made a mistake."

Just one word comes to mind...

[Zymergy]

MEGA-MAID?

Re:

[CSMatt]

Oh, shit. There goes the planet.

Is one of the astronauts named Johnny Socko?

[R2.0]

Pleasepleasepleaseplease...

Please have both English and Metric Sockets...

[newgalactic]

Please have both English and Metric Sockets... It sounds silly, but they already drove a Martian lander into the dirt for what is almost the same reason. ...Oh wait, it's Canadian. Does that make a difference?

Re:

[Piata]

Yes, it means we used the same form of measurement that the entire world uses instead of an obsolete, needlessly complex form of measurement that went extinct some 30 years ago. Is there something they put in the water down there that makes everyone intentionally regressive? I mean creative spelling is one thing, but when you're still openly debating evolution and working globally with other nations on multi-million dollar projects where measurement is critical, you'd think you'd get the hint and modernize

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Unless you completely forbid people from using non-metric, nobody will move over. kg? whats a kg? I weigh 285 lbs thankyouverymuch. Its 45C? Is that hot or cold? 135mm? 12km? My car gets 20 furlongs to the hogshead and thats the way I like it!

Re:

[AgentPaper]

Funny, that - you already use metric, if not daily, then at least whenever you're feeling under the weather. When was the last time you saw medications prescribed or sold in grains or scruples? (Those were still in use when my dad went to medical school, circa 1960. One grain is 64 mg; baby aspirin used to be one grain, adult was five.)

Speaking for myself, my brain has run on metric ever since WQRS went off the air [wikipedia.org] and I had to start listening to CBC Radio Two for my daily classical fix. Hearing the w

Re:

[91degrees]

NASA is metric. So is Canada. They just need to mention this to a few of their suppliers and everything will be fine.

How do US manufacturers handle foreign components? Do they just use all American parts, or do they just have specifications in multiples of .0254mm?

Dextre or Dexter?

[thewiz]

Is this robot any relation to the "Dexter" guy on TV?
If so, then NASA TV may soon have a new show called CSI: ISS!

Re:

[Scrameustache]

Is this robot any relation to the "Dexter" guy on TV?

SPOILER

In season 3 he starts disposing of the bodies by burning them in atmospheric reentry.

Re:

[sanjacguy]

I think you have the wrong Dexter - obviously Dextre will function perfectly fine until some artist develops the DeeDee Robot and sends it into space as 'performance art'. Although it will speak with a cheesy German accent.

Cue dramatic music

[CSMatt]

duh,

duh,

duh,

DUH DUH

(duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh)

Re:

[HTH NE1]

duh,

duh,

duh,

DUH DUH

(duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh)

Please, we have enough car analogies on /.; we don't need to be quoting car commercials as well.

Composition

[Armakuni]

Apparently, it's made from 30% iron, 40% zinc, 40% titanium, 40% dolomite and an unknown quantity of osmium. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bender_(Futurama)/ [wikipedia.org]

Not Frankenstein

[onkelonkel]

In keeping with /. pedantry I would like to point out that Baron Victor von Frankenstein was the sceintist, and that the monster had no name.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:

[Jerry Rivers]

That's FRONKen-SHTEEN to us.

Re:

[mabinogi]

also, he wasn't a baron, his name was just Victor Frankenstein. Nor was he a scientist - he was an obsessive undergraduate. He built the monster in his dorm room.

Re:

[tm2b]

Undergraduates can be scientists too, provided that they're doing science.

Re:

[dreamchaser]

Anyone following the scientific method in search of knowledge is a scientist, regardless of their schooling.

Re:

[Dutch Gun]

:Look at me, still talking when there's science to do...

Re:

[Sqweegee]

You'd think if the summary was going to contain quotes, they would be accurately taken from the article... but hey, this is slashdot.

The article was right: "almost like it's Frankenstein's monster coming alive."

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[verbalcontract]

By "rise like Frankenstein," the author meant it would get up like a mad scientist and construct an bigger robot monster, that's also afraid of fire.

Re:

[jollyreaper]

In keeping with /. pedantry I would like to point out that Baron Victor von Frankenstein was the sceintist, and that the monster had no name.

My monster has a first name, it's d-a-g-o-n

And I'll form the head!

[cheezitmike]

I didn't read the article... Are there five astronauts, each flying individual mechanical lions, joining together to assemble this robot?

Dextre?

[0xdeadbeef]

When it succumbs to its darker impulses, I hope that it at least remembers to live by the Code of Isaac.

I'll build a robot...

[tmosley]

...with freeway onramps for arms, and a heart as black as coal! MWAHAHAHA

Dudes...

[F34nor]

I love massive robots; Gundams, Transformers, those round balls with legs from the Akira comics I love em all.

Robot/Human Synergy

[iso-cop]

I for one welcome our robot co-workers!

Put the human vs. robot in space argument to bed once and for all time. Human and robot abilities are complementary in space just as on earth.

It's no GUNDAM

[renrutal]

I guess the Canadian Space Agency beat the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture into putting a robot in space.

Canadians and arms

[megabyte405]

It would seem my fine neighbors to the north have a fixation with robotic arms and devices built from them. I wonder if the US is missing out on the robot arm fun or, alternatively, if Canada is upset they always get stuck with building large robotic tools. FWIW, this is #3 and getting more sophisticated... those in the northern USA might want to start building their robotic-arm-shelters soon...

US and credit

[heroine]

Canadia may have wrote the book on robotic arms, but US wrote the book on the credit card. U don't need to build anything when you've got free credit.

Re:

[R3d M3rcury]

[...] those in the northern USA might want to start building their robotic-arm-shelters soon...

I think it would be extremely naive of us, Mr. President, to imagine that these new developments are going to cause any change in Canadian expansionist policy. Mr. President, we must not allow... a robotic-arm gap!

In related news

[slashdotlurker]

Scenes of panic and chaos reigned as the giant robot assembled in space by a joint Canadian US expedition started firing laser beams at uncontrolled locations in North America. Visions of an inhuman, headless robot destroying the world has been the stuff of science fiction over the decades. That vision became reality early on Sunday morning as many towns across the continent were hit in a barrage of devastating but inaccurate fire. According to reports, an industrial laser mounted on one of the arms malfunc

New Futurama Movie Idea

[psychicsword]

Giant Bender In Space!

Re:

[Rick Genter]

You mean old Futurama episode idea [tv.com].

So Burning Man...

[rwyoder]

...will be held in orbit this year?

", in Space" (WTF?)

[siglercm]

Where the hell're the crew gonna assemble it? In the air? In the shuttle bay during launch? (What's up with the ", in Space" in the title?...)

Re:

[Ioldanach]

Its big. Its in a few pieces. Once in space, they'll insert tab A into slot B and get a robot out of the deal. The box says Some Assembly Required. I just wonder if they included a few extra pieces like that last tractor attachment I got.

Never been photographed on Earth

[heroine]

It's even more intriguing since it has never been photographed on Earth. The first photos of the robot will be taken in space, hopefully.

SpaceBall One

[Lally Singh]

It's turning into a giant MAID! With a Vacuum Cleaner!

Dear Science Writers/Web site designers

[AaronLawrence]

When you write an article about an interesting machine, include a picture. When including a picture, you need to make sure that people can actually see what is in the picture. If the picture is a diagram including text, it might even be helpful to make the picture big enough to READ the text.

This means that fitting the picture into your page layout is the LEAST important factor.

The number of web designers and writers who include tiny, unreadable articles just to fit their page design is very annoying.

It's o

I must have entered an alternate universe

[initialE]

In Soviet Canada, NASA is the ministry in charge of Gundam.

Wait...

Giant Robot... in space!

[Mal-2]

I'm so disappointed. I thought they were planning to put Giant Robot [giantrobot.com] into space -- maybe a gigantic billboard of something like this [mal-2.com]. Just imagine the kawaii damage!

Mal-2

GURPS

[Datamonstar]

Thanks, /.! I wasn looking for some material for a good new GURPS campaign and now I have some. CAn't wait for this thing to go berserk and start attacking ships in low orbit.

Wow, impressive!

[JebusIsLord]

Thanks Slashdotters!

Every time I see a story about my country I cringe, because the first 4 pages of comments are usually nothing but cliche donut and hockey jokes. I just read through this whole thing and didn't see one. I'm impressed!

Re:

[sunking2]

Yah, comments about how you stupid donut eating canucks would brand your name on a giant penis is quite a change for the better :)

Re:

[JebusIsLord]

Well, it's a change at least. There are still too many wannabe comedians on here, IMO.

What a smoker!

[dotancohen]

Dextre...has seven joints per arm

Wow, I can only manage four per arm.

Happy funtime bangbang

[mqduck]

I for one welcome out new robot over-... *gets shot, dies*

Dextre?

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

C'mon! What about Brave Raydeen or Gaiking? [wildtoys.com]

Gigantor, anyone?

It'd be appropriate

[N Monkey]

Gigantor, anyone?

Well, "Gigantor's a space age robot", so it'd be appropriate. Gosh I amazed that I could remember that.

s2 Engine anyone?

[DarthStrydre]

Screw the batteries - those only last for like five minutes at the most. Throw a Super Solenoid Engine [wikipedia.org] in it.