GM and NASA Show Off Advanced Robot
A glimpse of the future, as General Motors shows off Robonaut 2 at it's technical center in Warren.. The robot was jointly developed by GM and NASA.
"This Robot was designed to work among astronauts and to work among people in the production of safer vehicles," said GM vice president of global research and development Alan Taub."
This is one of two versions of Robonaut 2. The other is at Kennedy Space Center, awaiting the next space shuttle launch in February. It will then spend an indefinite amount of time on the International Space Station.
"Both organizations are looking for ways for Robots to help people," said NASA deputy branch chief Ron Diftler.
Robonaut 2's first job in space will be to assist astronauts. Long term, it could be used in situations that might be dangerous to humans, or to set up for space walks. Diftler says that could greatly shorten the time that astronauts are in space.
GM and NASA showed the robot's ability to stop when it comes into contact with humans, to work on tasks until they are complete, and to handle both heavy and delicate tasks.
"The hands are proportional to a humans, which means a robot can use the exact same type of tools as a human," said Susan Smyth, who's GM's chief manufacturing scientist.
General Motors already uses thousands of robots in its plants. The goal, the company says is to build a better robot, not to replace people.
"I don't believe that we want you to assume that we believe we're going to create a robot that's going to be as flexible, as dexterous as a replacement for our people," said Ken Knight, executive director of global manufacturing engineering at General Motors.
Teams of GM engineers were assigned to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, working alongside NASA engineers, to complete a task that some GM execs thought might be impossible.
"The team itself all pushed themselves," said Marty Linn, GM principal robotics engineer. "You're with people from NASA. You're with the best engineers from GM. You're pushing each other to make the world's best robot. Every day was a personal challenge. What can we do to make the robot better."
The program started in 2007, and continued right through General Motors bankruptcy and restructuring. Knight says that's something that everybody who worked on Robonaut 2 can take pride in.
"I was extremely proud that we continued to be diligent in this venture, even during some of the darkest times in our company's history."
