Japan to send humanoid robot into space in 2013
Baku, February 15 (AZERTAC). A humanlike robot that can communicate with astronauts and transmit information back to Earth as well as send Twitter messages will become a permanent fixture at the International Space Station, under a joint plan by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the University of Tokyo and Dentsu Inc. (4324).
Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata floats with a rendering of the communications robot.To be launched into space as soon as 2013, the communication robot will receive instructions from ground control while astronauts are asleep and relay them to the crew once awake. The robot could also be used to analyze stress levels based on facial coloring and expressions in conversations with astronauts, and transmit such data to the ground.
Trials will be conducted in which a camera fitted in the robot automatically takes pictures of Earth and sends the images back to the ground. The robot will be able to make decisions on its own as well as be controlled from the ground. Such a function is expected to find applications in the development of nursing-care robots, for example.
A humanoid robot developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and General Motors Co. is due to hitch a ride to the station on the space shuttle on Feb. 24. Its main purpose will be to assist astronauts.
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