Swedish astronaut Marcus Wandt took control of a series of robots in Germany while on board the International Space Station, zipping around the Earth at 28,000 kilometers per hour (17,500 mph.) Researchers want to understand how time delays can affect the remote control of robots from an orbiting platform. Future astronauts could control rovers on the moon or Mars from a spacecraft in orbit. Until now, only wheeled rovers have been part of the tests, but now they have added a dog-like robot called Bert. This robot research session, called “Surface Avatar” follows initial experiments carried out in July 2023. Wandt operated the robots from a control station in the space station’s Columbus module, commanding three different robots at the German Space Agency’s (DLR) Robotics and Mechatronics Center in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. The goal is to develop innovative technologies that will allow humans to control several robots with precision, and have them act semi- or fully autonomously and even have different robots perform a task together. “Future stations on the moon and Mars, including astronaut habitats, will be built and maintained by robots operating under the guidance of astronauts,” said Alin Albu-Schäffer, Director of the DLR Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics, in a DLR article. “Our latest control and AI algorithms enable a single astronaut to command an entire team of different robots. Our DLR-ESA team is a world leader when it comes to this technology.”
Full report : The German Space Agency’s robotic dog Bert lands on International Space Station.
