The National Air and Space Administration has unveiled a humanoid robot with a glowing NASA logo on its chest. The “Valkyrie” is a 6 foot 2 inch tall robot that bears a striking resemblance to Marvel’s Iron Man. But you won’t see this robot saving the world from evil terrorists, no, even better. The Valkyrie is designed to help save humans from natural disasters.
The robot was created for the DARPA Robotics challenge and will be tested in its abilities to drive a vehicle, cut through a wall, clean up debris and perform other important functions.
“We want to get to Mars,” the team leader for Valkyrie, Nicolaus Radford told IEEE Spectrum in a video about the robot. “Likely, NASA will send robots ahead of the astronauts to the planet. These robots will start preparing the way for the human explorers and when the humans arrive, the robots and the humans will work together in conjunction building habs [habitats], laying foundation and just working together in that tight relationship. Technologies such as Valkyrie are going to really lead into the type of robotic systems that will one day be the precursor missions before the astronauts go to Mars.”
The Valkyrie is made out of soft parts, in order to make humans more comfortable with interacting with it. NASA JSC’s Dexterous Robotics Lab Project leader Nicolaus Radford said: “We take our soft goods very seriously. Our robot is soft. If you brush against it while you’re working, you don’t want to feel this cold, hard metal. You want it to feel natural, like you’re working next to another human being. The soft goods, the clothes we put on the robot, give it that feel, that appearance of being more comfortable to be near.”
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