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Space

NASA Developing Space Droids 101

Posted by timothy from the they-better-have-candy-inside dept.
krez writes: "NASA is developing neat little space-droids to help astronauts in space with their chores. According to the article, these things fly, talk, and 'think.' I dunno about you, but if I could get one to vacuum my apartment I'd be a happy dude." If NASA would sell these as toys (modified for earth gravity, with lots of LEDs), maybe their funding problems would disappear.
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NASA Developing Space Droids More

NASA Developing Space Droids

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  • NASA is so far over budget because their budget is so unreasonably low.

  • "Ames researchers are using off-the-shelf parts to help keep costs down. The robot's computer is a Pentium® III running Linux, and the six ducted fans it uses for propulsion are commercial products made for model airplanes. Even the infrared distance sensors it uses to avoid collisions are pre-made sensors similar to those in auto-flush toilets!"

  • in AD 2001: droid was beginning (Score:3)

    by VAXGeek ( 3443 ) on Monday July 23, 2001 @10:22AM (#67163) Homepage
    Astronaut: Open the pod bay doors.
    'Thinking' space droid: I can't do that, Dave.
    ------------
    a funny comment: 1 karma
    an insightful comment: 1 karma
    a good old-fashioned flame: priceless
  • You measure the thrust force that those little ducted fans generate -- and even though that force isn't enough to move the droid when it's resting on a lab bench in 1G, a simple F = ma tells you how fast the thrust will make the droid accelerate in 0G.
  • I think that it would be just about the least surprising thing yet if the Russians bought one of these from NASA, put it up there, hooked it up to the Net, and sold access to it. Does anybody think NASA would have a problem with that?

    More seriously, they could let reporters interview astronauts with this, and take tours of the ISS. Also, they could have Senators who are voting on improvements to the ISS wear it. My point is, all of the Quicktime VR to the contrary, there's nothing like seeing live images that you're actually controlling to making something seem real. It would be the same effect that keeps people riveted to the news when the word "Live" is pulsating in the corner of their screen.

    I think part of the problem with the ISS is that it hasn't really sunk in for most people that it even exists (not to mention the third world, which doesn't know, or probably care, about it's existence at all.)

    Anyway, I'm glad it runs Linux and all. Go team. Rah Rah Rah

  • Maybe the editor was refering to puting the sensory package, operating system and user interface into a device with wheels.

    Then again, this is slashdot. Maybe you hit the nail on the head...

  • BAH! These aren't the droids Im looking for!

  • Old news (Score:3)

    by StarWarsGeek ( 17771 ) on Monday July 23, 2001 @10:31AM (#67168)
    Too bad you guys already reported this. Almost a year ago... http://slashdot.org/articles/99/09/09/159255.shtml

    I knew that looked familiar.

  • Deja Vu (Score:3)

    by Scutter ( 18425 ) on Monday July 23, 2001 @10:45AM (#67169) Journal
    Slashdot [slashdot.org] scoops themselves again [slashdot.org]! By almost a year this time.

  • Hey! You stole my .sig! Er... ok, mod me off-topic now. :P

    \//
  • Ames researchers are using off-the-shelf parts to help keep costs down. The robot's computer is a Pentium® III running Linux, and the six ducted fans it uses for propulsion are commercial products made for model airplanes. Even the infrared distance sensors it uses to avoid collisions are pre-made sensors similar to those in auto-flush toilets!
    Great... I wish I could have my linux box follow me around like this! :)
  • Delays (short as they may be) in radio signals from earth to orbit would make that a bit impractical.


    I'm sorry but no.. at any distance close to the moon, and you start running some lag. If regular orbits actually had that problem satilite communication would be much more difficult.

  • Some lag may exist, yes but we have intelligent software out there that can deal with such lag, its really not that hard to do. It would be like playing a first person shooter with a lag of 50, definatly a pause, but not really noticable.
  • Let the wookie win!!!
  • Heh. It's regarding the diverse nature of the hardware. Linux interfacing with toilets and model airplane parts? Heh, Linux is #1 when it comes to weird hardware support.

  • Earth gravity??!? (Score:5)

    by devphil ( 51341 ) on Monday July 23, 2001 @10:30AM (#67176) Homepage


    Okay, I assumed that this is the same story that came out about 18 months ago, with the little flying-on-compressed-air red spherical thingies that resemble the doohickey shooting Luke Skywalker in the leg while he was practicing blindfolded, so I didn't read the article yet.

    BUT... about the editor's comment...

    Modified for Earth gravity? A little bit of air pressure will get the driod moving in zerogee. Do you have any idea how much air pressure we're talking about in order to sustain a relatively heavy object in a 1 gee field? Hovering? On air pressure? You'd be able to hear the fan a mile away! The air coming out the bottom of your SonyFlyingDroid would blow a hole in the floor!

    Still, I'd buy one. :-)

  • um, didn't they admit to blowing $92 million? seems to me that you can't have it both ways.
  • use a vacuum as lifting power
    The problem with vacuum is that you've got to have
    1. an airtight container to hold it
    2. capable of withstanding 15psi (i.e. external atmospheric pressure)
    3. that isn't so heavy it negates the lift of the vacuum
    I'm not a materials scientist, but AFAIK, we don't have anything to fit the bill.
    --
  • Do you have any idea how much air pressure we're talking about in order to sustain a relatively heavy object in a 1 gee field? Hovering? On air pressure? You'd be able to hear the fan a mile away! The air coming out the bottom of your SonyFlyingDroid would blow a hole in the floor!
    Nah, just hang it from a helium balloon. Like a little autonomous mini-blimp. It prolly wouldn't work outside (even full sized blimps head for cover in heavy weather), but indoors it would be mondo cool :-D
    --
  • OK, 100 cubic feet sounds like a lot, but... v==(4*pi*r**3)/3, which gives r=((3*v)/(4*pi))**(1/3), so 100 cubic feet fits in a sphere a bit under 2.9 feet in radius. Darn, darn, darn. Even if you stretch it out in a blimp-like ellipsoid, that's still one big balloon :-(

    I suppose that 4 pounds includes the structure of the balloon, to. Oh, well. Someone's just going to have to invent antigravity.
    --

  • I need one that washes clothes, and makes beds. Then I could get my wife to quit sighing all the time :-)


    My name is not spam, it's patrick

  • these astronauts will spend months on end in space, these droids better be able to do more than just typical chores.
    10-4 houston, I'm gonna make a visit to virtual valerie then hit the sack.
    Jason
  • so what? only you remember it.

  • oh great... (Score:3)

    by Lxy ( 80823 ) on Monday July 23, 2001 @10:53AM (#67184) Journal
    And if crew members have a question, they can simply ask. The PSA will have advanced voice-recognition and intent-interpretation technologies that will allow it to understand spoken questions and commands.

    It's powered by Ask Jeeves!

  • Great! (Score:2)

    by szcx ( 81006 )
    Now I can buy a mecha replacement for my favorite red ball that's in a coma.

  • Free = cheap (Score:3)

    by supabeast! ( 84658 ) on Monday July 23, 2001 @10:33AM (#67186)
    "Ames researchers are using off-the-shelf parts to help keep costs down. The robot's computer is a Pentium® III running Linux..."

    At least Microsoft hasn't managed to convince NASA that they should not use Linux...
  • Me: Windows 2000 Server has crashed yet again and I can't even get it to boot into safe mode!

    Droid: I have the solution.....please take Redhat install disc and insert into CD drive. Install Redhat...choose GUI and enjoy.

    Me: Now why didn't I think of that?

  • R2D2? (Score:4)

    by tycage ( 96002 ) <tycage@gmail.com> on Monday July 23, 2001 @10:22AM (#67188) Homepage

    So NASA is going to design astromech droids?

    I assume they'll be able to replay holographic messages.

    --Ty

  • they're "stress relief toys".. Ever see Cherry 2000? hey, astronauts have needs too...

    I believe they just use a milspec Realdoll [realdoll.com].

  • Combined with anti-gravity (Score:3)

    by SIGFPE ( 97527 ) on Monday July 23, 2001 @10:48AM (#67190) Homepage
    They'd be useless on Earth. However using the anti-gravity [space.com] shield that NASA have been researching we could have really cool drones straight out of the work of Iain M Banks.

    Then again, maybe not.

    --
  • At least Microsoft hasn't managed to convince NASA that they should not use Linux...

    "Open the pod bay door, HAL."

    "I'm afraid I can't do that, Dave. Kernel32.dll has caused a conflict. Please close all running programs and reboot. If this problem persists, contact your program vendor."

    -Legion

  • Clue: the astronauts are already so busy doing chores that they don't have enough time to do useful work. That's what the whole debate about 3 people or 6-7 people is all about: the station needs 3-man maintenance (maybe 2.5); the remainder, if there were more, would be able to get good experiments done.
  • I dunno about you, but if I could get one to vacuum my apartment I'd be a happy dude.

    MS clean sweep 2001, the "Standard" vacuum cleaner. You'de think it would suck, but it would not.

  • Finally! (Score:3)

    by FTL ( 112112 ) <slashdot.neil@fraser@name> on Monday July 23, 2001 @10:46AM (#67194) Homepage
    I submitted a CNN article [cnn.com] about these same NASA robots over a year ago, only to get it rejected. Oh well, better late than never. Strangely the CNN article has a lot more information than Nasa's own page. It even talks about how several of these bots could work together as a team.
    --

  • Re:Sounds great... (Score:3)

    by FTL ( 112112 ) <slashdot.neil@fraser@name> on Monday July 23, 2001 @11:31AM (#67195) Homepage
    >1) Lag time. Radio travels at speed of light, so you are going to incur some delay. Say a half second of delay round trip. Is this a problem? Could be. Also, when the ISS is on the otherside of the earth, you can't send it a signal (unless you have more then one transmitter, of course)

    All communication to and from ISS, Shuttles, Hubble, and a number of other NASA vehicles is routed through the TDRS system [nasa.gov] of three massive satellites in geosynchornous orbit. Unlike the Russian system, Nasa doesn't have to wait for their missions to pass over their ground stations. The lag incurred by TDRS is identical to that you hear on a transoceanic telephone call.

    >2) Repair. Can't fix the bot from the ground. You will have to train the crew to fix the bot (which you would have to do anyway).

    I would imagine that a shuttle would bring up a half-dozen balls. This would allow you to bring several of them online during busy times. It would also allow you to discard ones that break (to be replaced by the next shuttle flight). After all, the goal is to relieve the astronauts of work, not burden them with more things to fix.
    --

  • Re:Sounds great... (Score:4)

    by FTL ( 112112 ) <slashdot.neil@fraser@name> on Monday July 23, 2001 @11:01AM (#67196) Homepage
    >And for those of you who remember Tito's comments about his trip to the ISS, they sure need it. According to him (and others), the astronaughts spend a great deal of time with mundane tasks. Any slack a droid can pick up is a little more time the scientists can study science and make life more comportable for the early pioneers of living in space.

    The wonderful thing about a droid living on ISS is that it can have the full intelligence of a human. Give some grunt in mission control a pair of joysticks, and a TV screen, and you've instantly got an extra crew member who is quite capable of taking inventories, inspecting hardware and even making the odd observations out a window.

    When you are dealling with high-priced space missions like ISS, you don't need to program sophisticated AI. By using a real human being you get a really useful robot, not an annoying critter with the intelligence of a brain-damaged roach.
    --

  • Re:tough to test (Score:3)

    by (void*) ( 113680 ) on Monday July 23, 2001 @10:46AM (#67197)
    Well, you could test this by dropping it from a tall height, ensuring that you have enough cushioning at the bottom to catch it without breaking.

  • So let me get this straight... (Score:5)

    by Galvatron ( 115029 ) on Monday July 23, 2001 @10:40AM (#67198)
    Instead of allowing people like Tito to pay $20 million to do ISS chores for a week, they're spending millions developing a robot to do those chores? No wonder NASA keeps running out of money.

    The only "intuitive" interface is the nipple. After that, it's all learned.
  • I can't find it in the Old News section (you know, Slashdot REALLY needs a better search engine than the crap it has now..), but I saw this a long time ago, and I'm pretty sure it was on Slashdot. Anyway, as for "modifying them for Earth gravity", um.. yeah. These things use fans to get around. Do you know how big of a fan you'd need to get this thing to hover like that?!?!?

    Of course if NASA was really smart, they'd talk to people who've already done this stuff [disney.com], and simply license their tried and true [enchanter.net] technology...

  • Any tool Nasa can provide to speed along this process I am sure will be appreciated by the people who live up there.

    They already sent a tool up there. His name was Dennis Tito.

  • If they ran Windows instead of Linux, it would have been amusing if it bluescreened in a room with noxious fumes.
  • It must be tough to do earthbound testing of such a device

    According to the article, they can simulate weightlessness in airplanes that fly in a parabolic curve (as seen in the picture at the bottom of the article of a guy floating in a padded airplane).
  • I first thought that this was for EVAs. That would be pretty cool... I think they need real robots for EVAs because using humans for them turns out too expensive (all those spacesuits and airlocks are too complex).

    Then I read they were for inside the spacecraft... but I don't understand what this thing can do that an ordinary sensor package hung on the wall cannot. Even "venturing into dangerous areas" - they say they can seal a module and let the droid inspect it... well, every module should have several sensor packs in it and a few cameras too. So I don't really get how it can be more helpful than what they already have.
  • If NASA would sell these as toys (modified for earth gravity, with lots of LEDs), maybe their funding problems would disappear.

    I've never been clear on exactly how NASA does or does not make a profit on technology developed for the space program, but this is the kind of project that I would expect to have all kinds of spinoff technologies that will crop up in consumer goods down the road.

    NASA has a couple of pages (here [nasa.gov] and here [nasa.gov]) describing some of the spinoffs that we've seen so far.

    I can't say whether or not this is the most cost effective way to create new technology, but of all the things that my tax dollars go to support, NASA is one of the ones I resent the least.

  • Maybe I can walk into gadgets-r-us (or is that gadgets.r.us?) and buy this and my authentic Ghostbusters proton pack... mmm... Droids and portable particle accelerators... mmm.
  • See? NASA people do pay attention to Sci-Fi... first the lightsaber training droid, then an independant R2, and maybe an interrogation droid or two.

    Seems to be easier to develop these systems for zero-g environments since you only have to worry about moving the device around instead of how to keep it up in the air, but as soon as someone develops an anti-gravity system for earth-based devices these things'll be everywhere! A whole new generation of Spy-Tv, Big Brother and Candid Camera to rot your brain during prime-time, what fun!

  • Re:Finally! (Score:3)

    by ErikTheRed ( 162431 ) on Monday July 23, 2001 @11:12AM (#67207) Homepage
    Yeah, just imagine a Beowolf cluster of... never mind.
  • Hey if the astronauts get mad or just want to have some fun they could always push it around a little and watch it try to recover. Hey, with the AI software, it just might find a way to fight back, or curse the astronauts.
  • But how many people thought about the interrogator droid, or the great line,

    "This Ming is a psycho."

    From Flash Gordon [imdb.com]

  • If Russia or China were to get ahold of these bots, they could easily dump the code, reprogram it and burn the new code into the bot.

    Yea, they could, but it wouldnt do much good. The robots use "ducted fans" for propulsion. This means that to have any control they must be in a pressurized atmosphere. They could fit this thing with all the weapons they want but it would still have to be housed inside some sort of pressurized container (space ship). If they wanted to use it outside the space station they would have to fit it with some sort of air jet. This is nearly the same as designing one from scratch. So, no, I dont see a problem with selling these for profit.

  • Link to my old prof's research proposal here [ryerson.ca]. (sorry 'bout the PDF) From the abstract:
    ...a study that will design, construct and test an inexpensive tethered video camera cluster that will be used to created and transmit real-time spherical panoramic video. The intent of the device is to create a cost-effective means of providing comprehensive, integrated and continuous spherical panoramic views of operational setting in micro-gravity.

    Haven't heard anything recently on this - don't think he ever got the funding to really start.
  • The base functionality has already been field tested by Rodney Brooks and crew during the Days if the MIT Mobot lab [mit.edu]. Dr. Brooks developed and designed all of the "sensory" functionality they need into Hannibal, Attilla and a few others. Hell, strap a jet-pack onto Hannibal and let him go baby!! Even the A.I. won't be terribly difficult (though not trivial of course). It would be just a few more layers added into the subsumption architecture to provide the ability to filter and react to the data. I think the biggest stumbling block is the speech recognition and the fault tollerance needed to enact it to the point where it is "safe". So close to it but yet a few years off at least.

  • And a hoverboard from Back to the Future Part II. My life would be complete.

    ----jjjiii

  • Consider how much money they put into development of these things.

    Then consider the price of the components overall after it's finally finished (how many million for the small rovers??)

    I imagine these will cost too much to EVER turn a profit on. But if they can dumb it down into a toy, removing gold wiring and stuff like that, just maybe...

  • As long as they don't name the robots Maximillian
  • He has his own orbit... or not I dunno I just though it would be funny
  • AP reports [yahoo.com] that Hasbro Inc. lost $18.3 million in the second quarter, triggered by weak sales of Pokemon and Furbys. But not to worry, they've got strong pre-orders for the Harry Potter trading card games, to be launched in London on Aug. 7, and expect strong sales from products based "Jurassic Park 3" film (don't count on Katz ordering the t-shirt or the action figures).

    How come there's no copy editor Barbie Doll?

  • tough to test (Score:3)

    by brlewis ( 214632 ) on Monday July 23, 2001 @10:23AM (#67218) Homepage
    The propulsion mechanism seems highly dependent on a zero-G environment. It must be tough to do earthbound testing of such a device. Of course, the article was short on details.
  • Okay, I have a couple of things to add. I don't have my references available, so I'll leave the math to someone else.

    We don't need a nice computer, just use a minimal and use resources elsewhere on the wireless network. Also, as people have pointed out in other articles, why not use hydrogen instead of helium? Yes, it does have a chance to explode, and I'd be a little leery of letting it check on the kids at night, or help in the kitchen. But that would provide much better lift at less volume. Or another for lift that idea I read about a long time ago in a sci-fi book (about colonizing Jupiter) was to use a vacuum as lifting power. I'm curious as to how feasible that actually is.
  • I'm just imagining a new Nasa Funded Robotica or Battle Bots taking place in space now.
  • I dunno about you, but if I could get one to vacuum my apartment I'd be a happy dude.

    I can think of alot more *ahem* chores that I could teach a driod that would make me a happier man.

  • Okay, The article cites the dimensions of this thing being "softball sized". A standard softball is between 11.88 and 12.13 in. (30.2 and 30.8 cm) in circumference. What kind of Mobo, Electrical system are we talking here? Any more detailed specs available?
  • Yeah... they'll probably even put Clippy into the damned thing...
  • "It looks like you're doing laundry! Would you like to run the Laundry Wizard?"
    "It looks like you're bonking the milk man! Would you like information about divorce, or perhaps an online, interactive version of the Kama Sutra?"
  • It must be tough to do earthbound testing of such a device. Of course, the article was short on details.

    However, it was not short on that detail. It discusses the issue and shows a picture illustrating that testing will take place on the Vomit Comet:

    By flying in a parabolic arc, airplanes can simulate weightlessness here on Earth! A prototype of the PSA will be tested in a weightless (freely-falling) environment aboard a NASA KC-135 next year.

    I will omit the obligatory refrain of "read the article, then post."

    Tim

  • I was really disappointed that there was no mention of Microsoft's Hailstorm intiative.
    Then the astronauts could accomplish all of this

    "The PSA would have a wireless network connection to the computers of the shuttle or space station, enabling it to access information about hardware, inventory, crew schedules, or science experiments -- then relay that information to crew members as needed."

    ...simply by logging into Hotmail.

    Art At Home [artathome.org]

  • Hey if the astronauts get mad or just want to have some fun they could always push it around a little

    Yeah, till one of them grabbed a bat and swung for the fences :) It would be tough to resist swinging at some floating red ball that keeps following you around saying "You're not gonna do THAT are you?"

  • Bad visions of the movie Space Camp.... Help help!
  • You know that little droid is going to cause me a lot of trouble.

    Oh, he excels at that sir.

    I hope the inspiration for these things come from the sparring-bot luke used on the falcon and not from the big black beach ball of death Vader used on Leia.

  • Making it hover wouldn't be too hard. My little helicopter is pretty quite, but it does blow around papers and stuff when I fly it inside. So maybe I wouldn't want it flying around on its own all the time. Here is a picture of it, it doesn't have it's fuselage on cause I was working on the mechanics when I took the pic. http://chemonics.net/images/heli002.jpg [chemonics.net]
  • Sure I do. The rotors are only 20" in diameter and it doesn't make much moise. Although rotors hitting walls and lamps at +1000rpm generally aren't a good thing.
  • You'll need a helluva lot of helium to lift Pentium3 based computer, batteries, motors, etc.... Hope you have a big house :)
  • Ok, I just did the math.

    Assuming you could get the weight of everything down to about 4 pounds (using my Dell Inspiron 2100 as a pretty good example of how light a full comptuer can be)
    To lift a 4 pound payload, you will need just under 100 cubic feet of helium. Thats a big balloon.

    Me thinks you'll have to stick with a rotory wing or ducted fan idea to fit inside your house.

  • Recently... (Score:4)

    by JohnnyKnoxville ( 311956 ) on Monday July 23, 2001 @10:31AM (#67234)
    on Slashdot there was an article on how NASA has gone way over budget. Perhaps if the astronauts did their own "chores"...
  • That was very insightful and true. Good point. Might also save Nasa some cash in AI development. I suppose there are two problems with your suggestion though.

    1) Lag time. Radio travels at speed of light, so you are going to incur some delay. Say a half second of delay round trip. Is this a problem? Could be. Also, when the ISS is on the otherside of the earth, you can't send it a signal (unless you have more then one transmitter, of course)

    2) Repair. Can't fix the bot from the ground. You will have to train the crew to fix the bot (which you would have to do anyway).

    But a great suggestion none the less.

  • Sounds great... (Score:5)

    by pgpckt ( 312866 ) on Monday July 23, 2001 @10:30AM (#67236) Homepage Journal
    And for those of you who remember Tito's comments about his trip to the ISS, they sure need it. According to him (and others), the astronaughts spend a great deal of time with mundane tasks. Any slack a droid can pick up is a little more time the scientists can study science and make life more comportable for the early pioneers of living in space. Of course, alot of non-mission related work was probably expected by Nasa in the early years of the project for trying to make the whole thing work. Perhaps later more science will take place. Any tool Nasa can provide to speed along this process I am sure will be appreciated by the people who live up there.

    I agree with the author's comments too. There are probably enough people who would want to pick this up that Nasa could make a little loose change. Not a bad idea...hope Nasa was listening.
  • Ha! they already tried that, and failed! Check out the Microsoft Actimates [microsoft.com]. Of course, maybe the reason they bombed was that the first one was (gasp) Barney!
  • Ouch! Talk about doing things the hard way! Why don't you just hang it from a small helium-filled blimp, instead. Neutral boyancy, and the air jets for thrust.

    Now that's worth paying for!

  • Finally. Die, Pokemon, die!

    I think the JP3 toys wil hurt them big time; the toys from the first two movies didn't sell that wel in the first place. Harry Potter stuff, on the other hand, should sell like made, and the movie (judging from the trailers) actually looks good.

  • If I could get one to vacuum my apartment...

    You don't need to vacuum you're apartment, just do this:

    http://www.milk.com/wall-o-shame/waterproof.html

  • You don't need to see his indentification... (Score:5)

    by infinite9 ( 319274 ) on Monday July 23, 2001 @10:40AM (#67241)

    if NASA would sell these as toys...

    These aren't the droids you're looking for.

  • Look Sir, Droids!
    [Laugh until dead]
  • The article stated that they are going to test this on a parabolic flight. Where better to test a cleaning robot than on the Vomit Comet?

    It's not going to work in timothy's house unless we can get it into orbit, somehow.
    --
  • NASA should really market these to the public as a means to amassing the funds that the government doesn't give them. I agree with krez, the original submitter; I definately wouldn't mind having a robotic companion to do some of the chores.

    Plus, holographic messages are really cool! ;-)

    "Help me O Great Marketing Guru, you're my only hope!"

  • All I can think of... (Score:3)

    by kypper ( 446750 ) on Monday July 23, 2001 @10:30AM (#67245)
    I dunno about you, but if I could get one to vacuum my apartment I'd be a happy dude.

    You're in luck. I thought of R2D2 right on the spot. AI, work-friendly... a droid of all the right qualities. Plus, he LOOKS like a vaccuum cleaner. Let's stop before we start making bitchy C3POs tho, ok?

    Screw 3...

  • Better without the AI (Score:3)

    by bartle ( 447377 ) on Monday July 23, 2001 @10:30AM (#67246) Homepage

    I question how well an AI would function with these things. I'm sure the calm, zero gravity environment of the ISS is more ideal for practical autonomous robots, but it still seems like several years of work before they could do anything useful.

    On the other hand, stick a person on the other end and it might be all kinds of useful. I'm sure the engineers on the ground would love to be able to check things out themselves by remote rather than bother the residents. It'd be so easy to adapt for this purpose, I'd be surprised if this didn't wind up to be their function.

  • "If NASA would sell these as toys (modified for earth gravity, with lots of LEDs), maybe their funding problems would disappear."

    Yep... maybe. Or maybe Micro$oft will start making the same "toys", monopolize the market, sell a unit to every household; so some day, they can charge a anual "license" to vacuum your apartment, wash your dishes and everything else... hell!! maybe they will even read /. for you!!
  • Did you notice the print at the bottom?

    The robot's computer is a Pentium® III running Linux, and the six ducted fans it uses for propulsion are commercial products made for model airplanes.

    Sweet!
  • NASA scientists hope that eventually the PSA can support remote diagnostic operations and substitute, as needed, for nonfunctioning spacecraft sensors.
    This is from the CNN article.. as they mentioned, it would serve to substitute malfunctioning sensors.. it can also handle many of the mundane tasks ..

  • Re:in AD 2001: droid was beginning (Score:5)

    by ryanwright ( 450832 ) on Monday July 23, 2001 @10:45AM (#67250)
    The robot's computer is a Pentium® III running Linux

    Actually, it's more along the lines of avoiding a situation like:

    Astronaut: Open the airlock, happy fun ball. My air supply is dwindling and I need to get back into the station.
    Happy Fun Ball: GPF in airlock.exe while attempting to route all data through iexplore.exe. Cannot comply.
    Astronaut: What you say!!


  • Many conflicts would occur in selling these to subsidize their budget, the most important being rival countries. If Russia or China were to get ahold of these bots, they could easily dump the code, reprogram it and burn the new code into the bot. The new code contains instruction to destroy the Anti-Missile Defense Shield. Then they wouldn't have to worry about the K-Treaty no longer. These droids would be designed for anti-gravity and all they need is a few instructions taken from some BattleBot machines to destroy the whole damn laser. A whole army of Space CommieBots would be an interesting sight.

    +++
  • YES! YES! Show me your big red hole baby! Open up wide for the big boy sweetie!!! YEEHAW! Ride me Dmitry! Ride me hard! YEEESSS!!!
  • Word up beyatch! Stick it to THE MAN Dmitry! Your accent is so sexy! OH YEAH BABYCAKES! FREE TEH VICTIMS IS RIGHT MY BIG CHUNK OF MUNCHY MONKEY SAUCE! Wheela! FREE TEH VICTIMS FOR FREE LOVE! Yes, Comrade Dmitry! PROBE ME LIKE THE ALIENS DO! Oh baby! Put your BIG, SILLY ROCKET SHIP IN ME, INNOCENT PERSON! WOE, WOE, WOE, WOOOOOEEEEEE! YES!

    Oh, yeah. Slow down cowboy!

    Make it last AAAALLLL NIIGHHHT LOOOONG!

  • You are kidding right? NASA is just a terrible spender. I have ranted about this before - NASA keeps the cost of launch artificially high - and THAT KEEPS US ON PLANET. The day we can get to orbit as cheaply as a flight around the world (which is the fundamental cost) is the day that we will really see development and growth. NASA doesn't mean to be silly but it has no commercial imperative. Dan Goldin's move to get "Faster, Better, Cheaper" was the right attitude - he just forgot about the people who work for him. There is nothing better at destroying money than a mid-level government staffer trying to protect his empire.
  • Simple - Sensor packs don't work in microgravity. If the fans are off, the air doesn't mix.
  • for Earth-bound versions, they'd have a lot of engineering to do first.

    While it'd be very cool to have your own droid to boss around ("Droid! Do the laundry!" "Droid! Clean up my desk!" "Droid! Bring me a martini!"), I don't think they'd be affordable - or practical - for quite a while. Plus, NASA currently doesn't have the resources to support the necessary service. And why buy a NASA droid when you can build one yourself using LEGO [lego.com]? Not only would that be cheaper, but it's much geekier.

    The space versions, however, show great promise. Good article.

  • If NASA would sell these as toys (modified for earth gravity, with lots of LEDs), maybe their funding problems would disappear.

    Exactly. If NASA was completely independent we'd all be flying our private jets in the upper atmosphere while a fleet of robots protected and cleaned the house back on the ground. The whole velcro and Tang thing is starting to get old.

    --
  • Why is this moderated funny? It does use linux. That's a cut&paste from the page.
  • yes, the addition of a plethora of pretty lights would make it a neat home-user addition. These things need to be sold to ppl who really need em, like the average Joe Schmoe Couch Potatoe. Astronauts are incredible fit ppl. why do they need it? They have to werk in zero-g! how effortless is that?!?!? On another note, this may increase in a sudden rise in the couch potatoe populace. So it may not be a good idea to sell it out.

    just my worthless .02

  • what you don't know is... (Score:5)

    by TechnoVooDooDaddy ( 470187 ) on Monday July 23, 2001 @10:23AM (#67260) Homepage
    they're "stress relief toys".. Ever see Cherry 2000? hey, astronauts have needs too...

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