It seems somehow fitting: today marks the launch of the last mission of Space Shuttle Discovery, and the first mission of the first humanoid space traveller, Robonaut 2.Once he’s let out of the payload bay of Discovery, R2, as he’s called, will use his chiseled abs of titanium and brilliant neural net processors to help astronauts do the construction work that makes up much of their space walk activity.Also: he tweets.Though originally intended as an Earth-bound robot by its creators, NASA and General Motors, which may someday use him on the assembly line, R2 will be tested for his ability to operate in microgravity. Over time, upgrades and modifications could be made to allow the 300-pound robot to help astronauts work inside and outside of the station, with both routine tasks and those too dangerous for humans. He’s already proved his ability to pump iron, and he has excellent penmanship, even with space pens.Robonaut 2 was built "to bring robots to the next level, to where you could see them working in people's houses, or out in public," Vytas SunSpiral, a senior robotics researcher at Ames, tells the Ottawa Citizen.Though he doesn’t have legs yet, it’s thought that Robonaut’s human-like qualities will make it easier for astronauts to accept him as a co-worker. "There is a certain connection that people feel toward things that look similar to them," says Marty Linn, principal robotic engineer for GM, who worked with NASA for more than three years on Robonaut 2.One thing that makes Robonaut stand out: unlike other robots, its control motors have what engineers call an "elastic actuator," which is essentially a spring built into the motor. That makes his hands and arms more flexible, like human astronaut limbs. If Robonaut collides with a wall, damage will be minimal.But he doesn’t have a voice yet. Once he does, however, we’re hoping for a good HAL 9000 impersonation.
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