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>> In recent weeks, folks here

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in the Payload Operations
Integration Center have been

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busy with Robonaut activities.

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A Robonaut is a humanoid
designed to perform simple,

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repetitive, or even
dangerous crew tasks.

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Now for some, it's a technology
demonstration for robotics,

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while others, he's all too real.

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I spoke with someone who
really knows Robonaut.

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Tell us about Robonaut.

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How are things going?

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>> Things are going
great with Robonaut.

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Robonaut 2 is an upper
body humanoid that's

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on the International
Space Station.

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We are just about to send up
legs to make it mobile to go

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around and do really
interesting science, research,

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and hopefully help out the crew
with different tasks and things

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that it's going to do.

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>> Now as avionics and systems,

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you're kind of the heart
of the matter, right?

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You get to tell it
to do the cool stuff.

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>> We write all of
the controls systems,

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as well as the applications.

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So, some of the things I'm
really interested in working on,

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what we've been doing is,

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on Space Station right now we
have several different tasks

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that we do, such as
cleaning hand rails.

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Wipe manipulation.

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And soft-goods manipulation.

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Taking blankets off
of products to show

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that we can do that
sort of task.

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EDA so that the big robots can
then grab on to the different,

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or use the replacement
units outside the station.

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As well as it doing things
like inventory tasks.

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We have a cargo bag in front
of us, and we're going to scan

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that with the RFID tag reader.

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And do some simple
inventory tasks

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that the astronauts spend a lot
of time doing on the Station.

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>> So do you look at Robonaut
2 as another crew member?

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Is he almost human to you?

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How do you look at him?

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>> He's completely human to me,

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but I spend a lot
of time with him.

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We appreciate the fact that the
crew members seem to also kind

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of take the little brother
approach with Robonaut,

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and that, you know,
they, you know,

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treat it like a crew
member as well.

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We hope to be much more
like a crew member.

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The things that we're learning
right now, on a [inaudible],

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they're going to help us
when we have it go mobile

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and then be able to do things.

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And so we're actually
contributing to the crew.

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We think that they will
hopefully consider it even more

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part of the, you know,
a member of their crew.

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>> So, in the time that
Robonaut has been up there,

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what is something
fascinating that you learned

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that maybe you didn't know
you were going to see?

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>> There have been so
many interesting things.

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So the first thing,
when you send

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up this robot, it's
an upper body.

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It's doing things in the lab
that we like that it's doing.

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It's working great.

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We have a partnership
with General Motors,

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and they're happy
with what we're doing.

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We're safe around humans.

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We're able to do real work.

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We're able to, you know, do the
tasks that we'd expect on Earth.

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Then we send it to Space
Station, and they're like, wow,

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this is so much different.

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We're operating, you know,
over thousands of miles away.

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And it's got a, got
just different tasks

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that we want it to do.

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And so we've actually redone
the entire control system

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of Robonaut.

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We are keeping the
safety around humans.

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That's a really important
part of it.

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But we're adding a
lot more precision.

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We're adding a lot more,

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things that real manipulators
in factories can do.

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The real precision stuff.

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The nice thing is
is we're combining

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that with our [inaudible]
control safety.

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And so it's this amazing robot

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that you can only
find one place,

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you know, out of the world.

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Or in the world.

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To really be able to
combine those two things.

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And so I think that's
been the neatest thing is

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that we've really had to step
it up in figuring out how

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to control this robot so
that it can work around crew,

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but do it in an efficient
manner.

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>> Now as you say,
the legs are going up.

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So what new tasks
can we see with that?

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What's going to make
that different,

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other than making
it look more human?

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>> So everything we've done
so far is basically research

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and these technology
applications

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and understanding how we
can do this on Station.

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We'll talk a little
bit more today

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about how we're using
the vision system to try

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to identify hand rails.

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And to do the different
tasks that we want to do

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when we're moving around.

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When we send up legs, we hope to
be able to do everything better.

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So one of the tasks we've done
so far is we have a VelociCalc,

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it's a air flow measurement
tool.

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And we have the one air
vent that's really sort

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of close to us.

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It's still kind of far away.

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And so we can turn our
body just the right amount

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to actually reach out
and do the measurements.

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Which is something the
astronauts hate doing

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because you have to stay still
for, you know, a lot of time.

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Robots love that kind of stuff.

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So, once we're mobile, it'll
be easy enough for us to climb

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around and do that sort
of measurement anywhere.

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There's been a lot of technology
offshoots from the project.

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And so our partner General
Motors has always been a big

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supporter of what
we've been doing.

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They have a robot up
in Warren, Michigan,

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that they're researching for our
incorporation into factories.

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In fact, we have spun off
something called the Roboglove,

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which is a robot that you wear.

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It's based on the hand
technology from Robonaut.

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And it's an exoskeleton
for your hands.

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That basically you put it
on and it has a grip assist.

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And so if you're holding sheet
metal or something like that,

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it causes a lot of injuries
for factory workers because of

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that grip strength,
carpal tunnel syndrome.

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So we've already
spun off something

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that basically will
allow you to grab on

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and then the robot takes a hold.

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And you can kind of completely
relax your hands and fingers

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and just push a button
whenever you want it to release.

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So, the technology spinoffs that
we get from this are amazing.

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And we have many more in queue,

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and it's a very exciting
field to be a part of.

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>> Do you have one for typing
for me and my carpal tunnel?

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>> Hopefully someday.

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>> Are you surprised by
the popularity of Robot?

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Does he have his own
Twitter account or?

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>> And Facebook feed, and
you know, all of that stuff.

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I'm not super-surprised by it
because I'm a total robot nerd.

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So I think that everybody
should love robots.

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And, there's something
about a humanoid robot

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that really touches a person.

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That more than so even
like the Curiosity Rover,

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which has a huge following too.

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Because it is also awesome.

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But you almost get a sense of
this person belongs with us.

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This robot is almost
like a person.

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And you can really
give it a personality.

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Maybe even more so than you
can another [inaudible].

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So I'm not terribly
surprised by that.

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>> And if you'd like to find
out what Robonaut's up to

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through Twitter, you can connect
with him at AstroRobonaut.

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And he's also Robonaut
on Facebook.

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And Brian Blair is
leading the team here

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in the Payload Operations
Integration Center today

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as the pod.

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Busy at work.

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And that'll do it for us from
here in Huntsville, Alabama.