Robots Helping Astronauts

Heard about this a while back.   Uses IBM Watson AI.   But what were they helping with?   Specific micro tasks.  Anticipating needs.   Supporting technical conversations?  Providing information at the right time and place?  Reducing stress?   Just providing a smile?  How will it be measured?    Lots to be learned here.

This Robot Is Helping Astronauts on the Space Station With Tasks, Stress, Isolation   By Ashley Strickland

A ball-shaped robot built by Airbus at the German Aerospace Center is helping astronauts on the International Space Station manage tasks, stress, and the isolation of living 200 miles above our planet’s surface. In addition to autonomously navigating the European Columbus research module, the CIMON-2 robot can detect astronauts' emotions and tone during conversations and respond in different tones, from teasing to sad. It also can read instructions to guide the astronauts through various procedures. The robot is equipped with two cameras for facial recognition, and five additional cameras assist with navigation and recording video. Said IBM's Matthias Biniok, "CIMON is a technology experiment to find out how virtual agents can support astronauts and increase the efficiency of their work." ... ' 

Overview:
https://www.space.com/41041-artificial-intelligence-cimon-space-exploration.html

Mission description: 

https://www.airbus.com/newsroom/press-releases/en/2018/02/hello--i-am-cimon-.html 

Emotion Sensing Empathetic Robot in Space

An empath assistant.   Will this be a function of all future assistant models as well.  Or a dangerous, too close to home idea?   Good experiment in a closed context.

Emotion-sensing robot headed to International Space Station to aid astronauts' mental health
An intelligent robot equipped with emotion-sensing voice detectors is headed to the International Space Station after launching in Florida, becoming the latest artificial intelligence-powered astronaut workmate in orbit.

Key points:
CIMON is built with a raft of software designed to enable emotion recognition

It will test technologies that could prove crucial for future crewed missions in deep space, where long-term isolation poses risks to astronauts' mental health

Engineers say the concept was inspired by a 1940s comic series about a robot named Professor Simon

The Crew Interactive Mobile Companion 2, or CIMON 2, is a spherical droid with microphones, cameras and a slew of software to enable emotion recognition.

The droid was among 2,585kg of supplies and experiments aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, whose launch had been delayed from Wednesday (local time) due to high winds. .... "

Russian Fedor Robot Assistant in the ISS

Much in the press this week.    Looks to be of real value based on the description. Unclear here if this is voice driven and other specifics.  Note it is communicating its activities, will be checking on that. Note also the previous post on 'robotic bees' in the ISS.

Russia Sends Its First Humanoid Robot into Space 
Agence France-Presse
August 22, 2019

Russia dispatched an unmanned spacecraft containing a life-size humanoid robot to the International Space Station (ISS), where it will learn skills for assisting astronauts. The robot Fedor (Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research) communicates its activities and progress via Instagram and Twitter accounts, and it will test newly-acquired manual skills in the ISS' microgravity environment. The Roscosmos Russian space agency's Alexander Bloshenko said such skills include "connecting and disconnecting electric cables [and] using standard items, from a screwdriver and a spanner to a fire extinguisher." Fedor mimics human movements, which allows it to remotely assist astronauts, and people on Earth, in executing tasks.  .... "

Robotic Assistant Bees Head to Space Station

Interesting concept is placed in test.    Some technical detail at the link.  Again recall our look at small scale, cooperative physical assistants.

Robotic ‘bees’ are heading to the International Space Station  by Trevor Mogg in Digitaltrends

The International Space Station (ISS) is about to take delivery of a couple of robotic “bees” that will help take care of routine chores and also participate in experiments conducted by controllers on the ground.

Dubbed “Astrobee,” the compact, cube-shaped flying robot has been developed and built at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, and two of them will be heading to the space station later this month. ...."