Since 2006, three bowling ball-sized, free-flying "Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites" (SPHERES) have been floating around the International Space Station. Now, they are attaching a smartphone to the spheres, making them "Smart SPHERES": a more "intelligent" free-flying robot with built-in cameras to take pictures and video, sensors to help conduct inspections, powerful computing units to make calculations, and Wi-Fi connections to transfer data in real time to the computers aboard the space station and then to mission control in Houston.
In a two-phase experiment, astronauts will manually use the smartphones to collect visual data using the integrated custom 3-D sensor to generate a full 3-D model of their environment. After the map and its coordinate system are developed, a second activity will involve the smartphones attached to the SPHERES, becoming the free-flying Smart SPHERES. As the free-flying robots move around the space station from waypoint to waypoint, utilizing the 3-D map, they will provide situational awareness to crewmembers inside the station and flight controllers in mission control. These experiments allow NASA to test vision-based navigation in a very small mobile product.
"NASA uses robots for research and mission operations; just think about the rovers on Mars or the robotic arm on the ISS or space shuttle," said Chris Provencher, manager of the Smart SPHERES project. "Inside the ISS space is limited, so it's really exciting to see technology has advanced enough for us to demonstrate the use of small, mobile robots to enhance future exploration missions."
Ultimately it is the hope of researchers that these devices will perform housekeeping-type tasks, such as video surveys for safety and configuration audits, noise level measurements, air flow measurements, and air quality measurements, that will offset work the astronauts currently perform.
(Score: 2) by e_armadillo on Thursday July 24 2014, @06:23PM
I know that isn't the kind of housekeeper robot TFA is talking about.
"How are we gonna get out of here?" ... "We'll dig our way out!" ... "No, no, dig UP stupid!"
(Score: 1) by acid andy on Thursday July 24 2014, @07:22PM
I think I'd rather have one of these than a Jibo [soylentnews.org]. It's just a shame it wouldn't fly about in normal gravity.
Housekeeping robots of the household variety were a popular fantasy in the 80s. Why can't we have them now? They're another product that's always 15-20 years away, like the flying cars.
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 24 2014, @08:46PM
But if Back to the Future II is any indication, the flying car will be common next year.
(Score: 2) by e_armadillo on Thursday July 24 2014, @08:54PM
So will Mr. Fusion -- Now THAT is what I want
"How are we gonna get out of here?" ... "We'll dig our way out!" ... "No, no, dig UP stupid!"
(Score: 2, Funny) by Horse With Stripes on Thursday July 24 2014, @08:59PM
So it's true that just adding "with a smart phone" can really change something significantly? I expect to see patent applications that fly in the face of reason. /sarcasm
(Score: 2) by lhsi on Friday July 25 2014, @07:24AM
I think the smartphone is just a way to cram a bunch of functionality into a small device without having to specially design and source all the parts.