Building a Droid Robot for the ISS

Such cutting-edge "intelligent" technology is a major area of on-going research at Ames. This artificial intelligence also allows the PSA to plan autonomously its own motions and actions -- saving the crew from having to "baby sit" it.

The hope is that the PSA will save time for the crew members, because, as Loch puts it, "The most valuable resource on the station is the astronauts' time."

These little robots will also add some unique capabilities to the ISS.

For example, the on-board video camera and microphone could allow a scientist on the ground to have a "virtual presence" on the space station, overlooking as a crew member works on the scientist's experiment. The scientist could watch in real time and give the astronaut instructions and advice.

And mission controllers on the ground could recruit a PSA and ask it to look around the station, check on experiments, or investigate possible air leaks.

By flying in a parabolic arc, airplanes can simulate weightlessness here on Earth! A prototype of the PSA will be tested in a weightless (freely-falling) environment aboard a NASA KC-135 next year.

Ames researchers are using off-the-shelf parts to help keep costs down. The robot's computer is a Pentium® III running Linux, and the six ducted fans it uses for propulsion are commercial products made for model airplanes. Even the infrared distance sensors it uses to avoid collisions are pre-made sensors similar to those in auto-flush toilets!

Prototypes have already been made, and next year the PSA team plans to fly one on a KC-135 airplane. The plane, which is used in astronaut training, creates an artificial weightless environment by flying parabolic arcs in the sky.

If all goes well, the crews of the shuttle and the ISS may soon have a new high-tech helper - proving once again that yesterday's science fiction is tomorrow's science fact!