russia to send a humanoid robot in the commander's chair into space

on august 22, 2019, russia will send the skybot F-850 — formerly known as FEDOR — into space. the humanoid will take the spaceship commander’s chair and fly it to the international space station (ISS). this is a unique flight because for the first time, the robot will move from the cargo compartment to the commander’s chair, like the american humanoid robonaut-2, delivered to the ISS several years ago.

image courtesy of roscosmos

the skybot F-850 is a fully robot. it is an automatic device that has a predefined program with elements of artificial intelligence. it can perform tasks such as maintaining equilibrium, decomposing general movements into separate locomotor functions and provide expert support for the crew in an autonomous mode. additionally, the robot can work in an ‘avatar mode’, that is, under the full remote control of the operator.

image by the politics forum

the humanoid robot can also communicate on any topic launched by its interlocutor. before the launch of the soyuz-2.1a rocket carrier, it will report on pre-launch operations, and then while already during the launch and flight, it will be voicing the flight parameters and observed events. at the stage when the spaceship enters orbit, the robot will have to determine the value of the overload and the onset of zero gravity.

image by the politics forum

‘like any person, skybot f-850 is very sociable and has a sense of humor,’ comments alexander bloshenko, science adviser to roscosmos state space corporation’s director general. ‘as I have mentioned before, it can support any topic of conversation and answer a variety of questions: from welcoming remarks, continuing with a speech about its creators and ending with the philosophy of space.’

image by the politics forum

image by the politics forum

image by the politics forum

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