Rise of the Machines: Robonauts and More!

[Tuckerfan]

Robonaut: Conquering a planet near you soon.

Robonaut is a humanoid robot designed by the Robot Systems Technology Branch at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in a collaborative effort with DARPA. The Robonaut project seeks to develop and demonstrate a robotic system that can function as an EVA astronaut equivalent. Robonaut jumps generations ahead by eliminating the robotic scars (e.g., special robotic grapples and targets) and specialized robotic tools of traditional on-orbit robotics. However, it still keeps the human operator in the control loop through its telepresence control system. Robonaut is designed to be used for “EVA” tasks, i.e., those which were not specifically designed for robots .

Whomever designed the head of that thing must have been a fan of Boba Fett, methinks.

For those of you with a self-destructive impulse, there’s now a hobbyist magazine so you can construct the seeds of your own destruction in the safety of your own home. :eek: