Cars, rockets and robots

US: You may have heard of Honda’s ASIMO robot, which was introduced to the public in 2000. Honda isn’t the only automobile company to produce humanoid machines. Now American car maker General Motors, together with NASA, has created the “Robonaut”.

Robonaut 2, or R2 for short, has a human-like body from the waist up. R2 stands on a base, and the lower half may later be built with wheels or legs. Particular attention was given to imitating human motion in the arms and hands. “I learned a lot more about the anatomy of the hand than I ever thought I would,” Alan Taub, General Motors’ vice president of research and development, told the MSNBC website.

"I learned a lot about the anatomy of the hand" GM's Alan Taub

The car maker uses industrial robots in its factories, but these are far too big and powerful for more delicate tasks. When GM decided to become involved in building smaller robots, NASA’s Robonaut offered just what they were looking for. “Many things that humans have to do in space are in many ways similar to the complexity of building cars,” says Ron Diftler, Robonaut project leader at NASA.

The US government plans to end NASA’s current programme of manned flights to the moon, but continues to support space exploration. GM would like to secure financing for further R2s from its partners who make industrial robots. NASA and GM have worked together before, on projects such as the development of navigation systems for the Apollo missions and on building the Lunar Rover, the first vehicle to drive on the moon.