WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.000 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.000 Music 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:10.000 NARRATOR: In space movies, robots are always nearby to help out when things get dangerous for our 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:17.000 heroes. They hold off bad guys to allow an escape, act as a reliable copilot and sometimes just carry data 00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:19.000 tapes around the universe. 00:00:19.000 --> 00:00:25.000 NASA's own new Robonaut is not quite as advanced as that, but it's hoped he will add a helping hand for 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:29.000 astronauts living at the International Space Station. 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:35.000 Meet Robonaut 2, or just R2, an anthropomorphic robot destined to head to the International Space 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:41.000 Station with the crew of shuttle Discovery during the STS-133 mission. 00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:45.000 PHIL STRAUSSER: I've been working on the Robonaut project since about 2002 when I became a, a full- 00:00:45.000 --> 00:00:52.000 time employee and it was always this sort of distant goal that we're going to have a humanoid robot up in 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:55.000 space and now we're going to see it happen. 00:00:55.000 --> 00:01:01.000 R2 is not quite the completely independent machine shown to movie audiences in the last several decades. 00:01:01.000 --> 00:01:07.000 But it's the most advanced humanoid robot ever taken into space. Although the robot is definitely 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:13.000 experimental, its developers have grand hopes for it, as do the astronauts who would work with it. 00:01:13.000 --> 00:01:18.000 Jonathan Rodgers: Our ultimate goal is to send the robot EVA. Be able to set up work sites for the 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:24.000 astronauts and take care of mundane, boring and dull tasks, that way the crew doesn't have to go 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:28.000 through all the trouble to get in their spacesuits and take the risks of going outside. 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:32.000 NARRATOR: Before it gets to go outside the station, though, there will be plenty of tests and lots of work 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:37.000 inside the station to confirm R2 will work as intended. 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:41.000 JONATHAN RODGERS: We'll make sure everything survived launch, just do the basic checkouts, make 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:46.000 sure the fingers work, each of the joints in the arms work, cameras, things like that. 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:52.000 Working inside the station, R2 is programmed to be a useful member of the crew, and one that doesn't 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:54.000 have to sleep, eat food or drink water. 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:59.000 JONATHAN RODGERS: We'll move on to a task board that's been developed with buttons and switches 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:04.000 and valves that are indicative of what the crew uses on a daily basis. We'd like to prove that the robot can 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:07.000 interface with those items as well as the crew can. 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:12.000 NARRATOR: That may not sound like much compared to the capabilities of fictional robots, but such steps 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:15.000 are a large jump for R2's developers. 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:20.000 Ron Diftler: Producing a robot that can work with the same tools and within the same interfaces a human 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:26.000 works with requires you to constrain the robot to a human size. Putting all the capability that we want in a 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:31.000 human package has been very challenging. The hands specifically, getting all that finger motion and 00:02:31.000 --> 00:02:37.000 packaging everything in this size of a form is a very significant challenge. 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:42.000 NARRATOR: There also were safety considerations since R2 will be working in an enclosed space with six 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:44.000 other station residents. 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:47.000 JONATHAN RODGERS: The most difficult part about getting Robonaut ready for spaceflight has been our 00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:55.000 desire to have a robot that's fully functional and very capable, yet balancing that with the safety and the 00:02:55.000 --> 00:03:00.000 rigors of spaceflight, making durable as well as safe for the crew. 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:04.000 NARRATOR: General Motors joined NASA in Robonaut's development in order to improve its own 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:09.000 manufacturing techniques and other aspects of automotive development. 00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:15.000 Adam Sanders: There are a lot of technologies in this robot that will enable us to build safer cars with 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:20.000 more advanced features and better options and build them to be more reliable. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:25.000 NARRATOR: For the people behind some of the most famous fictional humanoids, C-3PO and R2-D2 in 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:30.000 "Star Wars," the emergence of a real-life ancestor raises other questions. 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:35.000 Anthony Daniels: Then we get into the interesting concept of what do people want from a robot? Does it 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:41.000 need to be humanoid? Does it need to be the same size, should it be smaller so it doesn't dominate you 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:45.000 and threaten you? Should it be bed-height size so it can look after you as you're getting older? Should it 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:49.000 have big eyes so you think it's a baby and can relate to it? 00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:53.000 Gary Kurtz: I love to see robot technology advance like this, this is great. 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:59.000 Jeremy Bulloch: This is fantastic. We don't need a robot, you could take me. How about that? I'm probably 00:03:59.000 --> 00:04:04.000 as bright as him. Well, maybe not. 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:11.000 NARRATOR: While the actors will indeed stay behind on Earth, R2's mission is slated to begin in late 2010. 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:19.000 From NASA's Kennedy Space Center, I'm George Diller.