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(Music)

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Brenden Sanborn: Robot designs are getting better

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and more capable all the time and this is

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essential for the future of space exploration.

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If you think about how much work goes on every day

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aboard the International Space Station, or ISS,

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it makes sense that NASA is developing specialized

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robots to help reduce the workload

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on the astronauts.

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Systems like Robonaut Two are already aboard

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the ISS and starting to demonstrate their

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potential and value.

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Join us as we discover how scientists at NASA Ames

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Research Center are working on the next generation

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of remotely controlled robot systems for

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future space missions.

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(Music)

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Brenden: To tell us more about their plans for

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robotics we're meeting with NASA Human Exploration

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Telerobotics Project Manager Terry Fong.

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So Terry, what exactly is the HET or

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Telerobotics Project?

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Terry Fong: The Telerobotics Project is all about

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looking at how remotely operated robots can

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improve future human deep space missions.

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It's a project we're doing here at NASA Ames with

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our partners at NASA Johnson in Houston and the

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Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.

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It's really important to develop these robots

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because we're trying to find ways of improving

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human productivity in space.

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We want robots that can really work before,

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in support of and after humans, and we're

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trying to find ways of doing this, that really

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allows humans and robots to be a productive team.

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Brenden: Could you tell us some examples of the

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types of jobs these robots do?

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Terry: We want to try to use robots to do those

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things which are very repetitive or very tedious

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for humans to do.

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So, you know, basic chores, for example,

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on board spacecraft, in terms of monitoring

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experiments in terms of just doing

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routine maintenance.

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These are the kinds of things that robots are

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really good at because it requires a lot of

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repetition or precision and things that

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fundamentally, for you and I as humans,

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are very unproductive.

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Brenden: What are some of the different types of

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robots you are developing?

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Terry: In the Telerobotics Project we're working

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with a wide variety of robots.

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At NASA Johnson for example we're working

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with Robonaut 2, which is a

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two-armed humanoid robot.

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It's able to reach out and pick up things just

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like you or I can use our hands and arms to move

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things around.

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Here at NASA Ames we're working with the SPHERES

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robot, which is a volleyball sized free-flyer that

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can fly around inside a spacecraft, carry cameras

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or other sensors and do mobile monitoring tasks.

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Brenden: So Terry, what's next for the project?

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Terry: We have been doing a lot of work with both

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Robonaut Two and SPHERES on space station, but

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these are still in the experiment stage.

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Where we'd really like to be and we hope to be

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within the next year or so, is at a point where

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these robots become not just experiments but

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really tools and maybe even beyond tools

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as actual partners.

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So they're working day in and day out to help

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humans to be more productive in space.

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And for me, that's really what the future

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of space exploration is:

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humans and robots working together.

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Brenden: To tell us more about that unusual

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volleyball-sized robot being tested on the Space

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Station is NASA Ames' SPHERES Engineering Manager

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Mark Micire.

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Mark Micire: This is the SPHERES, it was

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originally developed by MIT, and it flew up to

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station up in 2006.

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SPHERES stands for Synchronized Position Hold,

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Engage, and Reorient Experimental Satellites.

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It's used for testing navigation and other

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guidance algorithms on space station.

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Brenden: How does SPHERES work, what does it have

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inside of it?

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Mark: It's all fully self-contained. It has its

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own thruster system, computer system and an

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ability to figure out where it is on station.

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Inside it has a small digital signal processor, so

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it's like a small CPU that helps it do all of the

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calculations it needs to figure out which

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thrusters to fire and how to get from point A

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to point B.

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It also has an ultrasonic beacon system and the

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ultrasonics allow it to figure out very precisely

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where it is and what its orientation is.

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Brenden: That looks like a cell phone.

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What function does that serve?

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Mark: For this particular project we're using a

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smartphone to control the SPHERE.

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We were able to use the phone because

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it gives us good processing power,

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it has lots of sensors, it has a camera,

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and it's very easy for us to write software that

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will be able to run on the phone and then control

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the SPHERE.

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The hope is that ground would be able to create a

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plan of things that they want the SPHERE to do,

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that plan would be uploaded to the smartphone.

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The smartphone then would monitor the progress of

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the SPHERE as it moves through station and execute

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those tasks.

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The real benefit is it's able to do this without crew

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needing to attend it.

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Brenden: What's in store for the future?

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How do you see the goals for this project evolving?

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Mark: Well, I can definitely see a world in which

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human and robots are working together and working

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as a team.

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Where you have robots that are on the ground

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doing science and figuring out how to work

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in these harsh environments.

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I can also see crew working side by side with

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robots up in the space capsules with the robots

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doing a lot of the menial and kind of boring work

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to free up the crew for doing other more

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interesting things.

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This is definitely breaking new ground.

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Usually you think of it in terms of robots as a

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separate entity from humans, but I think it's really

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when you get the two working together that you have a

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really good combination for allowing us to go

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places we haven't been before.

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Brenden: Thanks for joining us!

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And meet us again on our next Destination Innovation.

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Brenden: For more information about NASA's

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Human Exploration Telerobotics Project, please visit

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NASA-dot-gov-slash-telerobotics.