By flexing his data-glove hand, robotics specialist Fredrik L. Rehnmark controls the NASA robonaut as it reaches for a battery-operated power drill on a test platform. Black goggles on Rehnmark's head give him the view from the twin digital cameras mounted in the robot's shiny carapace. In addition, the team may install pressure-sensitive sensors that will transmit to the data-glove a sense of the force the machine is exerting on the drill. Next to Rehnmark, engineer Hal A. Aldridge tracks the robot's test results. In a cavernous adjacent room in the Johnson Space Center laboratory is a life-size mock-up of the robonaut's future home: the NASA space shuttle.

Origin of Name
Robotic astronaut
Purpose
Help humans work and explore in space
Height
1.9 m
Weight
182 kg
Vision
Stereo cameras
Sensors
150 per limb - positioin, velocity, torque, force, temperature
Frame Composition
Aluminum (body padded with Kevlar and Teflon to make robonaut fireproof and bulletproof - space junk is a big threat )
Project Status
Ongoing
Information Source
Robert Ambrose