Valkyrie is one of the most advanced humanoid robots in the world. Built by NASA in 2015, this 1.80 meter tall and 125 kilogram device was born for missions in deep space. It could be sent ahead of astronauts to prepare habitats for them on Mars (the great goal of the US space agency), or serve as an assistant to crews on journeys that will last many months or even years.
Valkyrie (also known as Robonaut 5 or R5) does not need food and is not affected by radiation or the absence of gravity. Who better to set up a shelter on a planet or repair a ship malfunction? NASA is very interested in its development, and that is why it has organized the Space Robotics Challenge (endowed with a prize of one million dollars), in order for participants to take the skills of R5 further and contribute to its development. .
Competitors will have to program a virtual R5 to complete a series of tasks in a very hostile environment: a Martian storm that has damaged a habitat built on the red planet. In the simulation, Valkyrie has to realign an antenna, repair a solar panel, and fix a leak on the shelter’s surface. And all with the added difficulty of latency periods that delay communications between Mars and Earth.
The software developed for this contest may be used in other future or existing robotic systems, such as the Robonaut 2. According to NASA, the technology emerging from the competition (the winner of which will be announced in June 2017) will be essential in human disembarkation in Mars, and can also be applied in operations in extreme or very dangerous environments in our own world.
Photo (NASA): Robonaut 5 will help us get to Mars.
