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Comet-exploring 'Hedgehog' robot goes for a microgravity tumble
NASA has tested two prototypes of its "Hedgehog" robot concept to see how they perform in microgravity.
When you put a robot on a planet like Mars, you can plan for the terrain pretty well, with sturdy treads that can handle a large number of planetary obstacles in an environment with gravity. Asteroids and comets? Not so much. They're smaller and lumpier, and their gravity is negligible. A rover like Curiosity would fling itself off the surface and fall over.
Cue the Hedgehog, a robot under development by researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It's a little robotic explorer that can tumble along the surface of a low-gravity environment, unhindered by rough terrain.
The robot has evolved from the concepts seen two years ago. The Hedgehog is now a cube covered in spikes, which act as both feet and protection for the robot's body against the terrain. Inside its chassis, internal flywheels and brakes spin to move the robot in a sort of hopping, tumbling motion.
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"The spikes could also house instruments such as thermal probes to take the temperature of the surface as the robot tumbles," said Issa Nesnas, leader of the JPL team.
It doesn't have a top or bottom, either. No matter which way up it lands, the Hedgehog robot is designed to continue working perfectly.
"The geometry of the Hedgehog spikes has a great influence on its hopping trajectory. We have experimented with several spike configurations and found that a cube shape provides the best hopping performance. The cube structure is also easier to manufacture and package within a spacecraft," explained Benjamin Hockman, lead engineer of the Stanford team.
Two prototype robots, one from JPL and one from Stanford, have now been tested in microgravity in NASA's C-9 aircraft. As the plane flies along a parabolic path, it creates a simulated microgravity environment inside. In June 2015, the plane flew 180 parabolas over the course of four flights, while the Hedgehog prototypes were put through their paces on different surfaces.
In a special enclosure, the robots successfully tumbled, hopped, turned in place (a move called a "yaw") and even performed a fast spinning movement to launch itself from a surface -- which could be useful if the Hedgehogs ever became stuck in place.
A Hedgehog prototype tornadoes out of a tight spot.NASA/JPL-Caltech/Stanford
And, of course, they're much cheaper to manufacture than a rover, or even a lander like Philae, which touched down on comet 67P/C-G, then stayed fixed in one place to sample the comet's composition and send data back to Earth.
JPL's Hedgehog has eight spikes, and moves with the aid of three internal flywheels. It comes in at 5kg (2 pounds). The Stanford Hedgehog is a little smaller and lighter, with shorter spikes, and also contains three flywheels. Where the two differ is in the braking mechanism: The JPL robot uses disc brakes, while Stanford's uses friction belts.
"By controlling how you brake the flywheels, you can adjust Hedgehog's hopping angle. The idea was to test the two braking systems and understand their advantages and disadvantages," said Stanford team leader Marco Pavone.
The next step in the research, now that the robot's manoeuvres have been successfully demonstrated, is to increase the autonomy of the robots. The idea is that the Hedgehogs would be deployed to a comet or asteroid by a mothership, which would remain nearby to send and receive signals, acting as a relay station between the robot and Earth, much like how NASA's Mars rover program operates.
Source: http://www.cnet.com/news/comet-exploring-hedgehog-robot-goes-for-a-tumble/
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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