Inspenet, July 12, 2023.
NASA has delivered the Valkyrie space robot to Woodside Energy, an energy company located in Perth, Western Australia, which will be responsible for testing the developed software and providing data and feedback to NASA to accelerate the development of space robotics technology.
With this action, the intention of NASA is to use a humanoid robot to acquire remote manipulation skills in the maintenance of a deep sea unmanned extraction platform .
Valkiria will help advance remote robotic operations capabilities, which have the potential to improve the efficiency of Woodside’s offshore and remote operations, while increasing safety for both personnel and the environment. These new capabilities could also be applied to NASA’s Artemis missions and other robotics-related targets on Earth.
Contributions of the Valkyrie space robot to NASA
NASA plans to use the experience gained from Valkyrie operations at the Woodside facility to improve the design of robots intended to work in dirty and dangerous environments, such as those found on the Moon and the habitats that will be established as part of the of future Artemis missions.
Remotely controlled mobile robots on the lunar and martian surface could allow ground operators to perform important activities even when astronauts are not physically present, according to a NASA statement.
These activities include the inspection and maintenance of infrastructure and facilities that take advantage of resources and materials for the production of new elements, which makes it possible for astronauts to survive in these environments. The tests carried out by Woodside will also provide NASA engineers with valuable data on the use of advanced robots in similar applications on Earth.
Valkyrie and other advanced mobile robots can be essential tools in allowing humans to remotely supervise dangerous jobs and free themselves from monotonous and repetitive tasks, which in turn allows them to focus on higher level tasks such as implementation and maintenance. maintenance of the robots themselves.
Source and photo: https://www.20minutos.es/tecnologia/actualidad/nasa-robots-humanoides-espaciales-petrolera-5146081/