This is the technology behind NASA's new humanoid robot

To understand dimension Human form from NASA We have to think iron man, But made of metal and electronics and built for versatility of functions that best reflect human capabilities.

'Houston, we have a podcast' is a podcast NASA They explain that the robot's name is inspired by Norse mythology, and that its purpose is to work among “man-made degraded or damaged environments,” such as areas affected by natural disasters.

His height is 88 centimeters and his weight is 136 kilograms so his appearance is powerless.

Deputy Director of the Group for Right-handed Robots Johnson Space Center From NASA Evan LaskeThe podcast reported that Valkyrie “dropped out of the DARPA Robotics Challenge, which was, after all, a response to the disaster. Fukushima Caused by Tsunami Japan”.

He DARPA Robotics Challenge It is a competition organized by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), an agency of the US Department of Defense.

Launched in response to the challenges of responding to natural or man-made disasters, the competition seeks to promote the development of autonomous robots capable of performing complex tasks in hazardous environments.

“Then they created this challenge in 2013, I don't remember the exact year. Valkyrie She was basically our participant. It took us roughly 12 to 18 months to design and build to what it is today. “That includes all the hardware, all the system design and all the software,” he said. Shoot.

Laske added Valkyrie It is controlled most of the time through a virtual reality headset.

“What's really cool now is that you put on this virtual reality headset, you have your hand controllers, and you're looking through their eyes. Because it's humanoid, it's one of those advantages. We all understand how a human should move. So it's tele-operated. Makes it a lot easier to do,” explained the vice president.

Shaun AzimiThe head of NASA's Advanced Robotics Group has noted that humanoid robots could help in space by performing dangerous tasks such as cleaning solar panels or checking malfunctioning equipment outside the spacecraft.

This way, astronauts will have more time to focus on exploring and discovering new things.

“We're not trying to replace human teams, we're actually trying to eliminate boring, dirty, dangerous jobs to allow us to focus on those high-level activities,” Azimi said.

In fact, it has partnered with robotics companies like the US Space Agency AptronicBased in Austin, Texas, future humanoid robots in space could benefit from learning how humanoid robots were developed for earthly purposes.

A company called Apptronik is developing a humanoid robot Apollo, designed to work in warehouses and factories. This robot will take care of functions like move packages and other tasks related to logistics and materials management.

The company's CEO, Jeff Cardenas, noted that the sky is the limit as it leverages new software and development capabilities. Apollo.

“The approach is that we start with the warehouse and the manufacturing floor, but then we can go into retail … distribution and so on in what we call unstructured spaces,” Cardenas said.

According to Azimi, in the coming years, those “unstructured spaces” may include space.

“I like robots Apollo They are designed with modularity in mind to suit multiple applications,” said Azimi.

“That's where NASA is really trying to get that information: to see what the key gaps are, where we need to invest in the future to bring a ground system into the space environment and certify it to operate in space.”