NASA Humanoid Robot Testing for Remote Oil Rig Attendant
– NASA's humanoid robot, Valkyrie, will be tested by Woodside Energy in Western Australia for remote caretaking of uncrewed and offshore energy facilities.
– Woodside Energy will reimburse NASA's costs as they collaborate to develop remote mobile dexterous manipulation capabilities for uncrewed facilities.
– Woodside Energy will test Valkyrie's software and provide data to NASA for accelerating robot technology for remote operation on Mars or the Moon.
– The goal is to enable the robot to perform tasks such as inspecting and maintaining infrastructure and tending to plants in space, freeing up human time for higher-level work.
– NASA aims to leverage the experience gained from operating Valkyrie in Woodside's facilities to improve the design of robots for work in dirty and hazardous conditions, like those found on the Moon during future Artemis missions.
– NASA aims to leverage the experience gained from operating Valkyrie in Woodside's facilities to improve the design of robots for work in dirty and hazardous conditions, like those found on the Moon during future Artemis missions.
– Valkyrie (also known as R5) is a six-foot-tall robot equipped with Intel Core i7 processors, a 1.8kWh battery, and various sensors including hazard cameras and a modified Carnegie Robotics Multisense SL sensor.
– The robot has elastic rotary actuators for subtle movements, simplified hands with three fingers and a thumb, and a head with three degrees of movement.
– The design incorporates anthropomorphic touches to make the robot feel more like a coworker, with soft goods resembling clothes to provide a more comfortable and natural interaction.
– Valkyrie's predecessor, R2, was deployed on the International Space Station for tasks like cleaning and sweeping and was eventually given legs.