The Latest Job for Canada's Robotic Space Mechanic? Repairing Itself

Watching astronauts leave the safety of their spacecraft to undertake daring orbital repairs might eventually become a thing of the past.

Dextre, the Canadian Space Agency’s robotic handyman currently on board the International Space Station, is set to perform the first ever robotic self-repair in space this week. So no, not even spacewalking jobs are safe from robots.

The CSA’s Dextre, also known as the Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator (SPDM), is a basically a robot space mechanic with one primary mission: keep the ISS up and running in great shape. The sophisticated robot was launched on March 11, 2008, and has since been assisting with maintenance work and repairs.

Dextre focuses on simple and routine tasks like changing batteries and replacing cameras on the outside of the ISS. Having Dextre on hand reduces the risk to astronauts where these more basic chores are concerned, freeing the astronauts up for more scientific duties at the same time.

Because it was designed to lighten the astronauts’ load, Dextre is vaguely humanoid, and designed to move like a human—with a few notable exceptions. For one, it's much larger than your average Joe; Dextre’s two arms are nearly 11 feet long each, and the robot is almost as long as it is tall. Each arm has seven joints that move up, down, sideways, and can rotate around all axes. It’s like having the three degrees of mobility in your wrist in your elbow as well.

Dextre’s hands are akin to Swiss Army knives. Each hand has a retractable motorized socket wrench, a camera and lights, as well as an electrical plug-in that can provide data and video feeds for when the robot handles sensitive equipment or experiments. The grippers on its hands are equipped with sensors that give it an extremely light and sensitive touch, allowing Dextre to handle small objects with just the right amount of force and extreme precision.

The robot can also pivot around its waist, meaning it can turn on the spot to reach different things without having to move location. It can ride on the end of the Canadarm2 to move between work sites, or it can ride on the Mobile Base System.

Dextre was designed to be operated by astronauts floating safely inside the ISS, but the CSA and NASA revised the robots software to make it controllable from the ground as well. It can now also undertake some simple tasks autonomously. During its upcoming repair, Dextre will replace two cameras on Canadarm2 and the mobile base.

Autonomous robotic repairs will begin a change in the way we use robots in space. It’s very possible future robots will be able to service satellites and repair spacecraft. On-orbit robotic servicing could cut costs of satellite repair, and certainly promises to remove trivial tasks from the astronauts’ workloads, tasks that in space can turn fatal in an instant.

Dextre’s upcoming work, including preparation and replacement of the cameras, will be shared on Twitter and Ustream between May 22-29. The bulk of the work is currently scheduled for May 23 and May 27.