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Robots for space exploration, vehicle production

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NASA, GM show robot to help in both fields

Well, I knew this was coming, but somwhow I never thought I would live to see it. GM for years has had robotics in their plants. Every car, SUV, truck and van that is produced there is painted by robotic arms with nozzels attached. But this is only the beginning of replacing every worker there with mechanical creatures that dont need healthcare, don’t need lunch breaks, don’t even need to stop production at all except when they break down, which in my experience is quite often while I was working there. Some how, I can’t see myself cowtowing to a mechanical being barking orders in my face. But it’s coming. I’m just glad I didn’t have to grow up with this thinking it was normal.From the Detroit Free Press:

Robonaut R2, developed by General Motors and NASA, is to work with people. (General Motors)

BY TIM HIGGINS
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

Robots for space exploration, vehicle production
NASA, GM show robot to help in both fields
BY TIM HIGGINS
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

Robonaut2 — or R2 — appears in a video to be a sleek humanoid robot and is shown writing, shaking hands and performing tasks, such as lifting weights and picking up an envelope.
The two organizations say the partnership is about creating technologies that will help both the automotive and aerospace industries.
“For GM, this is about safer cars and safer plants. When it comes to future vehicles, the advancements in controls, sensors and vision technology can be used to develop advanced vehicle safety systems,” Alan Taub, GM’s vice president for global research and development, said in a statement. “The partnership’s vision is to explore advanced robots working together in harmony with people, building better, higher-quality vehicles in a safer, more competitive manufacturing environment.”
GM said it can see using the technology in the assembly plants where it already uses robotic technology. The Detroit automaker also sees potential applications in vehicle safety systems.
Meanwhile, NASA wants to build machines that help people work and explore space.
“Working side-by-side with humans, or going where the risks are too great for people, machines like Robonaut will expand our ability for construction and discovery,” Mike Coats, NASA’s Johnson Space Center director, said in a statement.
The humanoid robot, Robonaut, was first designed and built by NASA in an effort with the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency a decade ago.
R2 has hands that do work beyond the earlier version.
GM and NASA have a long history together, including working on the development of the Lunar Roving Vehicle used on the moon.