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Smartphone attached to flying robots set to assist astronauts on ISS [Asian News International](Asian News International Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Washington, Apr 20 (ANI): Two months after Google announced Project Tango, which is an experimental Android-powered smartphone with 3D sensors, its Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) team is working to get a prototype inside the International Space Station to assist NASA astronauts. The 5-inch smartphone, which comes with 3D-tracking and mapping capabilities via its camera, will be attached to a robot (on a robotic platform called NASA Spheres) with the ability to navigate the station, Mashable reported. The Spheres robots will work in zero-gravity and help those on board the International Space Station. The team has been working with NASA Ames Researchers for more than a year now to get its Project Tango smartphone concept into robots that work in space. The Spheres program aims to develop zero-gravity autonomous platforms that could act as robotic assistants for astronauts or perform maintenance activities independently on station. The 3D-tracking and mapping capabilities of Project Tango would allow Spheres to reconstruct a 3D-map of the space station and, for the first time in history, enable autonomous navigation of a floating robotic platform 230 miles above the surface of the earth. Project Tango and NASA recently tested the concept during a zero-gravity flight that left from Texas, but the technology will launch into orbit starting this summer, according to Google. (ANI) (c) 2014 aninews.in All rights reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info, an Albawaba.com company |