Japanese Launch Tiny 'Robot Astronaut' to ISS

 

A small talking robot was launched into space aboard a Japanese cargo ship to keep astronauts company on the International Space Station (ISS).

 

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the humanoid Kirobo "robot astronaut" into orbit on Aug. 3 (Aug. 4 Japan time) from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan along with nearly 3.5 tons of supplies and equipment to resupply the ISS’ six-person crew.

 

Kirobo was packed inside Japan's unmanned HTV-4 (Kounotori 4) cargo ship when it launched into orbit atop the country's H-2B rocket. The HTV was captured and attached to the space station by onboard crew members via robotic arm on Aug. 9.

 

The name of Kirobo is a merging of the words Kibo, which means “hope” and robot, project officials have said. Kibo is also the name of Japan's research laboratory module aboard the ISS. 

 

Just 34cm [13.4"], the cartoon-like, miniature mechanical person, Kirobo, has been built to converse in Japanese with astronauts on long space voyages. The robot, and its ground-based counterpart Mirata, are part of the Kibo Robot Project to develop new technologies to enhance human-robot interaction in space. Kirobo and Mirata were built by scientists and engineers at the by the University of Tokyo's Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology. The Toyota Motor Corp., Robo Garage, and the public relations company Dentsu Inc. are partners in Kibo Robot Project.

 

Both robots come equipped with voice-recognition and face-recognition technology, as well as a camera, emotion recognition software, and natural language processing. Kirobo is expected to talk to JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata when he arrives at the space station in November.

 

Robot designer Tomotaka Takahashi, of the University of Tokyo, has said the challenge was making sure Kirobo could move and talk where there was no gravity.

 

Takahashi believes sending a robot into space could help write a new chapter in the history of communication. "I wish for this robot to function as a mediator between person and machine, or person and Internet and sometimes even between people," he told a reporter.

 

This is the fourth mission for JAXA's HTV program (the name is short for H-2 Transfer Vehicle) since 2009. The cylindrical disposable spacecraft are built to haul up to 6 tons of cargo to the ISS and then be discarded at the mission's end.

 

HTV craft, called Kounotori (Japanese for "White Stork"), are about 33ft long by 14.4ft wide (10m by 4.4m). They carry supplies and equipment inside a pressurized section, which astronauts can access after the vehicle links up with the station. They also have an unpressurized section that can be accessed via the station's robotic arm to retrieve spare parts and other larger gear that can be stored on the orbiting lab's exterior.