Turbine-driven Robot to Navigate Inside Space Station – Hackaday

It may look more like a Companion Cube than R2-D2, but the ISS is getting an astromechdroid of sorts.

According to [Trey Smith] of the NASA Ames Research Center, Astrobee is an autonomous robot that will be able to maneuver inside the ISS in three dimensions using vectored thrust from a pair of turbines. The floating droid will navigate visually, using a camera to pick out landmarks aboard the station, including docking ports that let it interface with power and data. A simple arm allows Astrobee to grab onto any of the hand rails inside the ISS to provide a stable point for viewing astronaut activities or helping out with the science.

As cool as Astrobee is, were intrigued by how the team at Ames is testing it. The droid is mounted on a stand that floats over an enormous and perfectly flat granite slab using low-friction CO gas bearings, giving it freedom to move in two dimensions. We cant help but wonder why they didnt suspend the Astrobee from a gantry using a counterweight to add that third dimension in. Maybe thats next.

From the sound of it, Astrobee is slated to be flight ready by the end of 2017, so well be watching to see how it does. But if they find themselves with a little free time in the schedule, perhaps adding a few 3D-printed cosmetics would allow them to enter the Hackaday Sci-Fi Contest.

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Turbine-driven Robot to Navigate Inside Space Station - Hackaday