Science & Technology

Humanoid robot is preparing to go in to space

By T.K. Randall
May 5, 2016

Image: NASA's Valkyrie Robot
Credit: (PD) NASA/Bill Stafford, James Blair, Regan Geeseman The impressive robot, which stands almost six feet tall and weighs in at over 20 stone, looks like something that just walked off the set of a science fiction movie.

Designed for use in future missions to Mars, the robot is currently being developed as part of a collaboration between NASA and two universities where scientists will be working to improve its handling and walking capabilities as well as its capacity to interact with its human colleagues."Valkyrie is a huge scientific undertaking," said Professor Sethu Vijayakumar.

"We are looking forward to tackling the many technical challenges involved in developing a large-scale humanoid robot, and pushing the state of the art in humanoid robotics."

The ultimate goal for the robot will be to send it to Mars where it can set up and maintain human habitation facilities ahead of the arrival of the first astronauts.


Source: BBC News

Tags: Valkyrie, Robot, Mars