Abstract
NASA is best known for its historical human missions to the moon in the 1960s and 1970s. Future human missions to other planets, such as Mars, however will involve human-robot teams. These missions will require robots capable of dealing with interfaces designed primarily for human interaction. As such research into humanoid robotic systems has been ongoing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center for the last two decades. This chapter examines the Center’s two most recent humanoid robots: Robonaut 2 and Valkyrie. Specifically discussion will focus on the technologies and advancements that enabled these systems as well as the evolution of that technology from one system to the next. The chapter will conclude with a few remarks on where current development is focusing at JSC and areas where the community can contribute and collaborate on problems aligned with NASA’s long-term space exploration goals.
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Yamokoski, J., Radford, N. (2019). Robonaut, Valkyrie, and NASA Robots. In: Goswami, A., Vadakkepat, P. (eds) Humanoid Robotics: A Reference. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6046-2_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6046-2_17
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