The newest edition of NASA’s small, foldable robots recently practiced their scouting skills and successfully traversed rugged terrain in the Mars Yard at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. JPL developed the Autonomous Pop-Up Flat Folding Explorer Robot (A-PUFFER) to scout regions on the Moon and gain intel about locations that may be difficult…
Skybot humanoid robot grounded after Russian space flight
Russia’s Skybot F-850 robot highlighted the ambitions and shortcomings around humanoid robots in space and for other applications.
KBR revs up with AWS, NASA for fully autonomous vehicle race
KBR, a provider of technology and services to the government and energy industry, worked with Amazon Web Services and NASA to stage a race of fully autonomous vehicles.
NASA funds next phase of robotic satellite assembly project
The National Air & Space Administration awarded the next phase of funding to Space Systems Loral, a spacecraft systems provider, modifying their contract to continue work on the Dragonfly on-orbit satellite assembly program. The partnership between NASA and SSL intends to create a semiautonomous robotic system to assemble satellites in space. The software to run…
NASA tests robotic tools for drilling and manipulating ice
Want to go ice fishing on Jupiter’s moon Europa? There’s no promising you’ll catch anything, but a new set of robotic prototypes could help. Since 2015, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, has been developing new technologies for use on future missions to ocean worlds. That includes a subsurface probe that could burrow through […]
Popup AGV robot from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory may catch rover ride
The next AGV robot rovers to explore another planet might bring along a scout. The Pop-Up Flat Folding Explorer Robot (PUFFER) in development at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, was inspired by origami. Its lightweight design is capable of flattening itself, tucking in its wheels and crawling into places rovers can’t fit. Over […]
A dilemma of high risk high reward
The following article by Frank Tobe, editor and publisher of The Robot Report, first appeared on Robohub.org in their special focus series: High-risk / High-reward. Often funding sources – the groups taking the risk – are not the beneficiaries of the rewards of the venture. Intuitive Surgical and Rethink Robotics are two examples. NSF, DARPA and…
NASA’S Robonaut 2 To Be Launched Into Space
NASA will launch the first human-like robot to space later this year to become a permanent resident of the International Space Station. Robonaut 2, or R2, was developed jointly by NASA and General Motors under a cooperative agreement to develop a robotic assistant that can work alongside humans, whether they are astronauts in space or […]
NASA Reveals Robot Astronaut: Robonaut 2
NASA is turning to robotics to help their astronauts while in space. NASA scientists have developed a new dexterous humanoid robot which can work side by side with humans Robonaut2, or R2, is the next generation dexterous robot that uses the same tools as humans, allowing it to work safely along with people, a necessity […]