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NASAs tennis ball Sized Robot Assistants 53

Posted by CmdrTaco from the but-can-they-fetch dept.
Rob sent us linkage to a wired article that talks about Tennis ball sized robots that will zip around working as assistants for astronauts. They are described as being like the training bots in Star Wars. They'd be cool as pets if we lived in zero-g...
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NASAs tennis ball Sized Robot Assistants More

NASAs tennis ball Sized Robot Assistants

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  • cool (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Will they appear on Wimbledon ?

  • PSAs should be simpler (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    What will this robot really be used for?

    Given that it is designed to work in (1) zero gravity and (2) an atmosphere, the robot is limited to move around inside the shuttle or space station interior. This means that the robots will be confined to a fairly small space, where astronauts will be within shouting range, or "here, let me toss you this" range of each other. I suspect that for most of the applications suggested in the New Scientist article, e.g. taking snapshots or checking oxygen gauges, it will be easier for the astronaut to simply go over and use the instrument. After all, the shuttle is space-limited, not astronaut-limited.

    This makes me doubt that these personal satellite assistants (PSAs) will be truly useful for helping out with routine tasks. Instead, I see these PSAs as being useful primarily in emergency situations, say a fire, when it is unsafe for astronauts to be present. But in that case, why not have several small PSAs dedicated to particular tasks? They are likely to be simpler and more reliable.

    Right now a PSA has a:

    • solar cell
    • range finder
    • motion sensor
    • camera
    • video screen
    • status panel
    • inventory scanner
    • microphone
    • speaker

    Why not just make a PSA with an oxygen sensor, one with a camera, and so forth? No need for solar panels, just a battery that can last through an emergency. No need for a bulky video screen or speakers, this can be transmitted to a remote.

    Or better yet, make the system modular. Just have a basic remotely operated propulsion system with a battery, like a flying grappling hook, and allow a wireless camera or wireless sensor to be attached as necessary.

    This is likely to be more practical -- these aren't on the surface of Mars, they're right in front of the user, and that distance, they don't need to be that smart or complicated. They just need to act as a simple tool.

  • Don't you mean Phantasm? It had the little ball that floated around, shooting a spike into people's heads and assorted fun.
  • Hey, why didn't NASA install any kind of laser device on these things? I don't see how they can be used for Jedi^H^H^H^Hastronaut training otherwise. Maybe they will just use the built-in fan propulution system to ram into the blindfolded astronauts instead. With a running start, there's no limit to how fast these things could get going in space!
  • By the sound of the article, I get the impression that they make it more out of fun that out of utility. I don't blame them. =) It would be cool to make the software they will be using. Would it be possible to make one that works down on earth maybe?

  • Riiiight. NASA is going to let these things zip around the space station/shuttles and watch them plow into various control panels and so forth. I don't think so. If NASA does permit these things on board a space station, you can be pretty sure the commander of the station isn't going to be letting these things have free reign of the station they have anything to say about it.
  • I gotta pay more attention when I froth.

    --
    rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
  • That plane that flies up to 50000ft (or whatever) then does a freefall for a minute or so. Maybe not zero G exactly, but close enough to allow for free ball motion.

    --
    rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)

  • Bad Balls (Score:3)

    by Chemical Serenity ( 1324 ) on Saturday July 17, 1999 @02:35PM (#1797355) Homepage Journal
    Yah yah, everyone wants a HAPPY FUN BALL(tm) (warning: do not taunt Happy Fun Ball!) to be thier spacebourne companion, kinda like a zero-g Aibo to zip about, make cute 'beep-beep' noises and occasionally give you a shot in the ass with a taser to wake you up out of a daydream or when you get 'spaced out'.

    But am I the only person to recall what happens when these balls go BAD? Nasty, nasty results... I refer you to the Hellraiser series of movies as graphic and tragic examples of what the future might hold with Problem Balls.

    I wholely denounce this ball exploration! If God wanted us to have balls in space, (s)he would have put them there!

    --
    rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)

  • >> With a running start, there's no limit to how fast these things could get going in space!

    As I understood it, these bots would be used in enviroments with air in them, so that they could co-exist with the astronauts. They are built to be used in enviroments that are filled with AIR. AIR causes friction, and friction is the limit on how fast they can go. If, however, you are talking about their use outside the shuttle you are mistaken. Their design does not allow this to be possible, they need AIR to move.
  • Ill bet the Russians are still years away from launching their first ball in space. Although Sputnik was roughly ball shaped...
  • For anyone who cares, I ended up getting 97,609,200 points by level 6:9. I would have gotten a lot further (and likely well over 100 million points) except that I was tired and just *barely* slipped on a drop which would have completed 6:9 (but instead took away my last life, since I'd made two other just-barely slips on that level). Pissed me off, but I was too tired to do anything about it, so I went to bed.
    ---
    "'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.

  • Incidentally, I saw this post while taking a break from Tetrisphere, in the middle of a "let's see how many points I can get" session. I'm on level 4:5 and already have 48.3 million. I doubt I'll have the attention span to get all the way to episode 13, though (my record when playing for speed).

    See, 'coz like, Tetrisphere has these little robots which are shaped like a tennis ball and unfold into various utility robot forms, and one of them is fan-propelled and stuff, and...

    *realizes she's rambling, and decides to hide in a corner where nobody will notice*


    ---
    "'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.


  • ... which would be so much cooler. You know, like the Seeker from Dune. If the Army Air Corps was still in charge of space exploration you know they'd do it.

    Oh well. sigh.

  • You can tell I've just woke up - I misread that as "NASA's tennis ball sized Robot Assassins"
    *wibble*
  • And then, when aliens zoom by the space-station and steal our PSA's, we can finally see this headline on newspapers around the world:

    Space Aliens Took Our Balls!

    Or, if Congress drops even more funding for NASA, they could use:

    Congress grabs NASA by the balls!
    ---
    seumas.com

  • I went over the NASA site to see if anything was mentioned about this. Eventually, I ended up at the Ames Res. Center site and found this interesting related item. It turns out that ARC/NASA does work in robotics and sponsors a contest for middle and high school students called Botball [nasa.gov]. This from their press release.

    Two robot teams will `do battle' at a time, trying to put the most Ping-Pong balls into a target within a set time limit. The small, one-foot robots compete on a smooth, 4-foot by 8-foot playing surface.

    The botball program teaches students C computer programming as well as increases their skills and interest in mathematics, science, physics and design, according to organizers.

    These is the contest rules. [nasa.gov]
    There is going to a live webcast (real video) of the finals on July 20 and 21. So it is too late for this year.

    Sorry for the off-topic post but I love it when there is something like this that gets kids interested in science/engineering/computers.
  • And one good sneeze could take out your connection.

    I can see a rise in lung related illnesses from too much time in front of the internet cloud (swarm?) Or how about, "Sorry teacher, I ate my homework. It settled on my cornflakes and I thought it was sugar."
  • One tends to wonder if the astronauts can resist taking a NASA armband, using it as a blindfold, grabbing a support rail, and just blindly swinging at these things. (Watch out for the O^2 tanks!) Considering they're probably 8 Million dollars each, I doubt that'll happen.

    As for being able to fix minor problems, erm, How? will they have little arms? Or will it have logic capabilities that can determine the problem, and remotely output it to a monitor so the ASTRONAUTS can fix it? (In that case, the article is a bit misleading.)

    In any case, what the astronauts REALLY need is one of those Big-ass Lost-in-Space utility Robots. Then they can put the blindfold on the big guy, and have HIM swat at these PSAs.

    DANGER WILL ROBINSON! **Krack!!**

    -- Give him Head? Be a Beacon?

  • They're designed to work in low to no gravity. If we had one here, it would just sit on the table and stare at you. (You COULD mount it in a bracket and force it to use it's fan to cool you on a hot summer day, but somehow, that seems kinda cruel.)

    -- Give him Head? Be a Beacon?

  • Oh, I can just imagine the office assistant software running these:

    Astronaut: OK, Houston, I'm going to replace the TCB-315 unit now...

    Ball: Hi there! It looks like you're trying to floss your teeth! Would you like some help?

    Astronaut: Um, no... please go away.

    Ball: (dances about, and wanders off)

    Astronaut: OK, Houston, got the main housing off, I'm going to detatch the primary...

    Ball: Hi there! Would you like to learn about primary robotic arm operations?

    Astronaut: No! Go away!

    Ball: (winks and departs)

    Astronaut: Ok, got the primary connector...

    Ball: Hi! It looks like you're trying to floss your teeth! Would you like some he--

    (some smashing sounds)

    Houston: Columbia, please confirm, we've lost telemetry on PSA 3.

    Astronaut: Confirmed. Now, about this connector...
  • Heh, wouldn't work quite as well in 1G. And Mir isn't that promising of a political target. :P

    However, if they can get these to survive outside spacecraft... I can see satellites being assassinated. :) Adds a new meaning to the idea of a "Star Wars" program.



    -W-

  • Well, hopefully they'll assist astronauts. There seems to be a rising tide among conservatives to cut NASA. Heck, they didn't even uphold the funding of the F-22, much to the chagrin of our dear Secretary Cohen.

    I think things like these tennis ball sized robots illustrate how vital the space station is in promoting technological innovation. Lots of people have ragged on the International Space Station, saying that it's nothing new, it just orbits the earth. I think its clear that even space travel around our own earth has tremendous benefits.

    There are bound to be medical advances on board the space station -- but I think articles like this should show that just having an active space program promotes really creative thinking -- who knows what we'll see next. I know I'll be waiting...

  • Re:NASA costs and benefits (Score:3)

    by jetson123 ( 13128 ) on Saturday July 17, 1999 @05:10PM (#1797370)
    I don't think that these robots demonstrate the importance of the space station. Quite to the contrary: if NASA concentrated even more on robotics and eliminated most manned space exploration (for now), they could be doing a lot more in the areas of robotics, new propulsion systems, sample return missions, and exploration.

    I think manned exploration should happen eventually. But manned exploration will be a lot more cost effective once we have further optimized many of the necessary technologies with more unmanned missions.

  • If i wanted a robot controling my universe I would live in a VR world. this planet has existed for several billion years without humans even THINKING they could control it in any way, I see no need to start now. Nature should be accepted and contended with, no one should attempt to control it.
  • Nah... Just embed them in a baloon filled with Hydrogen. (Robot in use! No Smoking!) :-)
  • Looks like it's time for someone to do
    "Space Balls 2: two balls in space"

    or "Hardware wars 2: Aibo fetch the ball"

    I want Darth Vaders tromenting Ball.. with out the needle... those things get me nervous..
    Or Phantasum balls... Yes I'm sadistic...
    I want world conquest...

    And I want to lauch balls on Gateway "Get those Amigas on the market" and Del "Go back to making Unix boxes"....
    I don't want to launch them on Bill Gates however... he's to stubborn.. they'd just kill him and I don't want him dead.. I want him to suffer... What os dose his house run? Windows... hmmmmm muahahaha yeah thats suffering enough for me....

    No... WinAibos.. thats suffering... Wops your dog forgot who you are again....

    Do they have IRs? I could network them with Linux on my desktops IR or on a Palm pilot...
    A few antigravs and make em work here.. 3 Aibos.. 9 space balls... controlled vea wearable.. with a Sony display... ohh the technology is comming...
    Will the 2ks be known as the age of the geek lords? "bow before me pesent... you failed to set your VCR clock... you must pay for your ignorence... go.. boot Windows.. or suffer the wrath of my space balls and Aibos of hell"

    Oh enough... Theres just to much good matereal here... :)

  • The Real Deal (w/pictures) (Score:3)

    by ashpool7 ( 18172 ) on Saturday July 17, 1999 @02:21PM (#1797374) Homepage Journal
    Hmm, can't we just cut to the real article that Wired conveniently doesn't link explicitly to? Maybe Jon Katz was right about Wired . . .

    http://www.newscientist.c o.uk/ns/19990717/newsstory7.html [newscientist.co.uk]
    Sorry I cut out the frames it was in :p

  • if it''s designed to work inside, would a solar cell help at all?
  • Now, we only have to get rid of gravity on earth, so we can use those things at home.
  • I always thought it would be kinda neat to have one of those little training droids around to fry mosquitos. :> Great thing to have around the cottage or camp fire, it can just float around and fry any of the the little buggers that come inside a certain perimeter. All we need is anti-gravity... :)

    (Mmm... anti-gravity...)

  • I can't help thinking of those little square robots on TNG that fly into the danger areas to mine the salt or whatever, and Data saves them because they become self-aware.

    Which makes me envision dozens of little tennis balls whizzing around... trying to kill me.
    (Or am I having a Phantasm flashback?)

    So, if these things really become smart, will we then be able to have tennis balls chasing after dogs?

    Regards,

  • The battery-powered PSAs, each about the size of a tennis ball, will need only tiny fans to move around in zero gravity.
    Heh. I guess that mean's they won't be very useful outside. If the spaceballs' electronics can withstand the temperature and radiation outside the station, maybe we'll eventually see little jet propelled versions that use CO2.
  • >>I wholely denounce this ball exploration! If God wanted us to have balls in space, (s)he would have put them there!

    Heheheh. Great post! However, there are more or less "balls in space" already, just we tend to call them planets.
  • 'Congress cuts off NASA's Balls!'?
  • The major reason you're seeing cool things like these space balls (sorry, couldn't resist), and like the mars rover is that NASA is having to cut costs and therefore innovate.

    Necessity is the mother of invention.
  • Surely they're not relying on the occasional shuttle trip or computer simulation to test these things? Maybe NASA have used Roswell technology to develop an earthbased zero-G lab! ;-)
  • Is it just me or does the idea of this remind anyone else of the Microsoft Office assistant.

    blue
  • Do u mean "Kawaii"? Cute in Japanese?
  • Anyone else think the six air holes should be filled with solid rocket fuel? :)
  • I'm picturing this little four inch ball zipping around my chicken coup shooting down scores of flies...

    ___
    \ __ __
    \ \ \/_/ (bzzzzt!)
    NASA | O O O O O O O O \/\/__/
    / //\\\
    ___/


    :-)
  • Wait, this little robot ball takes 2 years to build? Also, shouldn't be consider a baby submarine? (zero gravity, fan to thrust aka no nano-rockets/compressed air/pulley system via wires or fibers) Well, robotic due to it's intelligence, avoiding getting into people's way and all. I guess the 2 years is to make it durable and work under stress, you are asking a tennis ball size to survive space station disasters and do investigations after all.

    I bet another hard part is to have a hoard of them working together. It could take 5 spaceballs to cooperate and put out a little fire or take different camera shots of a unreachable space.

    Another thing that would help these balls do precision positioning is if once there they can attach a tricorder to a solid space and use that tricorder to move in little increments. Just because you can't send a human into small places doesn't mean you don't need the fingers of a astronaut. But this is probably hard to include into the budget--micro surgeons these balls aren't. On the bright side, the surgical
    programming can be on a mainframe that's on the
    shuttle, not in the ball, you just need to give it a robotic arm--maybe the Toyota assembly factory can help in this respect :)

    I wonder if positioning them for surgical work would be manual, like a 3D view of the tunnel and you see a ball, and you use your hand to guide the ball left and right.

    Talk about juggling. This is a hard project. Good luck.

  • In a few years, we will all have little robots everywhere and we won't even see them. Maybe there will be for weather regulation, air pollution, health, to clean the house in an instant. These will be quantum robots based on the quantum technology that is being worked on today. Each of these robots would be more powerful than any of our home computers. We could connect to the Internet by just telling the words and a screen would appear, all these little robots floating seamlessly in the air would gather to project an image.

    This is not just Sci-Fi, it can be possible. It's just a matter of time. This is the perspective of Quantum technology

  • there's no limit to how fast these things could get going in space!
    Yes, there would be, even if they had some means of propulsion that allowed them to travel at all in space. They could only approach light speed.

    Jake the Humorless

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