Robonaut 2, will make its television debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb 6, 2011. Millions of viewers will be able to watch the state-of-the-art robot during a General Motors segment to air during the Super Bowl pre-game show on the Fox network.
Robonaut 2, or R2, was developed and built by NASA and General Motors via a Space Act Agreement. Using the latest technology, they created a new humanoid robot that can work side-by side with people. R2 is using edge control, sensor and vision technologies so will in future assist astronauts during hazardous space missions.
Like its predecessor Robonaut 1, R2 is capable of handling a wide range of tools and interfaces. It is capable of speeds more than four times faster than R1. It's more dexterous, and includes a deeper and wider range of sensing, which can really helps.
And one BIG advantage of a humanoid design is that Robonaut can take over simple, repetitive, or especially dangerous tasks on places such as the International Space Station. Will robots make spacewalks disappear? We will see in close future.
Image above: Robonaut 2 surpasses previous dexterous humanoid robots in strength, yet it is safe enough to work side-by-side with humans. Credit: NASA.