Robonaut 2 enters final preparations before flying off into space
By Vlad Savov 
posted July 8th 2010 11:01AM
posted July 8th 2010 11:01AM
GM and NASA Engineers Prepare R2 for Space Duty
Technology on R2 plays role in future GM vehicle safety systems development
2010-07-07
HOUSTON – The countdown continues as General Motors and NASA engineers prepare Robonaut 2 for its planned fall mission to the International Space Station aboard the space shuttle Discovery.
GM and NASA engineering teams are validating some of the key technologies on the humanoid robot, including advanced sensor and vision systems.
GM engineers on site at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, are sharing their results with colleagues at GM's Technical Center in Warren, Mich., so teams working on tomorrow's Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac cars and trucks can develop innovative safety technologies that will keep customers safe in the future.
Manufacturing engineers in GM's Research and Development operations also plan to use the findings to help develop future technologies that can make plants safer for workers at GM's global manufacturing facilities.
R2's technologies have real-world applications for sensor development, such as possible enhancements to lane departure warning, side blind zone alert, adaptive cruise control and rear park assist.
GM and NASA engineers have been working together on the R2 program since 2007. The advanced robotics partnership has generated 34 patents to date.
GM and NASA engineers are currently performing various test and upgrade procedures to prepare R2 for his mission, while laying the groundwork for adoption of R2's various technologies in GM's next generation of cars and trucks.
Is he giving us the finger? Goddamn Skynet...
@gasshole : No, its a one finger salute. :) (He's been working out, look at those guns!)
i would like to be the first to welcome our new robot overlords ,and ask him can he run crysis 2 and rage ?
@n1hmrd, I'm sure it could while fixing a solar panel in high orbit.
C3PO is that you?
No it's R2. Didn't you read the post?
Am I the only one questioning why NASA/GM would patent robotic technology? It seems counter intuitive to stifle progress like that.
@firehazard
Uh it seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to patent. You think new technology never gets patented? You think someone else should make money off technology they sunk R&D into.
Robots are bring developed around the world. This is such a cool time to be alive.
My grandparents witnessed the birth of the automobile. My parents witnessed the birth of, well nothing really.
We have witnessed the birth of computers, consumer electronics, high-tech cars, alternative fuels, (fill-in-the-blank), and now robots!
Who's with me?
@fj2u
Might want to check your history there...
If your grandparents witnessed the birth of the automobile, then your parents probably witnessed the birth of the space age (not to mention the birth of you). Unless your grandparents were an awkwardly old age when your rents were born
Did he get his helmet from the Rocketeer?
@jonbruc
The earlier version had more cool factor. It used Boba Fett's helmet.
He has no legs. Me: 1 - Robolegless: 0
@beatupunit Yeah, but can you outrun a bullet with your legs? Because, he sure got the hands to hold and point a gun at you!
How about sending a couple to the Gulf of Mexico first to help fix the freaking oil leak?
@FriarNurgle
I'm guessing it probably has something to do with the oil leak being under 5000 ft of water (crushing pressures and well, wet) vs the vacuum of space (hardly any pressure and not wet).
But thats just my guess.
I'll buy a GM vehicle if it comes with this guy as the driver.
He looks so... disjointed
So THAT'S why there was a bailout!
@DirtySocks85 Exactly! So, technically since the American people bought GM, we partially own 1 310 thousandth of Robonaut!
Godspeed Robonaut, Godspeed
With the ending of the shuttle program, our only presence in space will be a robot. Good luck with the spare parts there buddy.
I love you, Engadget, but this needs to be said. Every single time you bring us news regarding robotics, you don't have to make a robot apocalypse joke. It has started to get a little old. Maybe tone it down to every other time?
The robocalypse is no joke. Never forget the lessons of the terminator
Robonaut's got tickets to the gun show. Must get hit on a lot at bars.
Those space jocks get all the chicks!
God speed mr roboto !
but if we ever do send a robot off into space , we better hope aliens dont find it , and end up thinking it came from a planet of robots , it might not end well (as countless sci fi movies have shown us)
NASA and GM? What could go wrong?
I wonder if it runs on Windows too... snicker... ;)
I'm gonna pump you up!
ok fine, those robot hands will fit perfectly around human tools but same can be said for human guns. its inevitable. ha
And it will be named Bishop. Keep it away from knives. And make sure you're not late getting to the departure platform as he may just leave without you.