Post Syndicated from Evan Ackerman original https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/space-robots/watch-astrobees-first-autonomous-flight-on-the-international-space-station

NASA’s Astrobee robots have come a long, long way since we first met them at NASA Ames back in 2017. In fact, they’ve made it all the way to the International Space Station: Bumble, Honey, and Queen Bee are up there right now. While Honey and Queen Bee are still packed away in a case (and quite unhappy about it, I would imagine), Bumble has been buzzing around, getting used to its new home. To be ready to fly solo, all Bumble needed was some astronaut-assisted mapping of its environment, and last month, the little robotic cube finally embarked on its first fully autonomous ISS adventure.

Post Syndicated from Evan Ackerman original https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/space-robots/nasa-hiring-engineers-to-develop-next-generation-humanoid-robot

It’s been nearly six years since NASA unveiled Valkyrie, a state-of-the-art full-size humanoid robot. After the DARPA Robotics Challenge, NASA has continued to work with Valkyrie at Johnson Space Center, and has also provided Valkyrie robots to several different universities. Although it’s not a new platform anymore (six years is a long time in robotics), Valkyrie is still very capable, with plenty of potential for robotics research. 

With that in mind, we were caught by surprise when over the last several months, Jacobs, a Dallas-based engineering company that appears to provide a wide variety of technical services to anyone who wants them, has posted several open jobs in need of roboticists in the Houston, Texas, area who are interested in working with NASA on “the next generation of humanoid robot.”

Post Syndicated from Evan Ackerman original https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/space-robots/russian-humanoid-robot-to-pilot-soyuz-capsule-to-iss-this-week

Skybot F-850 will spend a week on the ISS charming astronauts with its sense of humor