The remote-ontrolled colleague
The remote-ontrolled colleague
It was the successful conclusion of a four-year technology demonstration: in July this year, as part of the 'Surface Avatar' project, NASA astronaut Jonny Kim worked from the International Space Station ISS together with various robots on a simulated Martian surface at DLR's site in Oberpfaffenhofen. Among other tasks, Kim remotely commanded a DLR robot named Bert. What the astronaut didn't know beforehand: the experiment team had programmed in a malfunction, requiring Kim and Bert to spontaneously solve an unforeseen problem together – in this case, Bert's jammed leg. To restore stable movement, Kim had Bert tried out different gaits and evaluated them until, using reinforcement learning software, Bert had found a working strategy. With this, the pair could complete their mission: collecting rock samples and exploring a cave. As intelligent assistants to astronauts, robots are expected in the future to plan and carry out tasks on the Moon and beyond – acting as avatars for human operators. Driven by advancements in AI and machine learning, spin-offs from space robotics could also be realised in other industrial sectors.
