Humanoid robots are poised to play a greater role on and Earth and beyond in the coming years.
Standing at 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighing 136 kilograms, NASA’s humanoid robot Valkyrie is an imposing figure.
A humanoid robot is simply a robot resembling a human, typically with a torso, head, two arms and two legs. Engineers believe with the right software, humanoid robots can function similarly to humans by using the same tools, equipment and methods of maneuvering itself.
NASA built its robust, electrically powered humanoid robot at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas as part of a 2013 design competition. Valkyrie, named after a female figure in Norse mythology, is designed to operate in “degraded or damaged human-engineered environments,” like areas hit by natural disasters, according to NASA.
While Valkyrie walks the Earth, her older robot brother Robonaut 2, was built and launched by NASA to the International Space Station in 2011 as the first humanoid robot to enter space.
Back then, Robonaut 2 performed basic tasks in the space station, like operating a control interface, measuring airflow from a vent and exercises in both remote control and autonomous use. It returned to Earth in 2018.
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NASA Dexterous Robotics Team Leader Shaun Azimi said future humanoid robots in space could handle extraneous or risky tasks like cleaning solar panels or inspecting malfunctioning equipment outside the spacecraft so astronauts can prioritize exploration and discovery.
“We’re not trying to replace human crews, we’re really just trying to take the dull, dirty and dangerous work off their plates to allow them to focus on those higher-level activities,” Azimi said.
In recent years, NASA has partnered with robotics companies like Austin, Texas-based Apptronik, Inc. to learn how humanoid robots developed for terrestrial purposes could benefit future humanoid robots destined for space.
Apptronik is currently developing Apollo, a humanoid robot designed to work in warehouses and manufacturing plants by moving packages, stacking pallets and other supply chain-oriented tasks. The company plans to start providing the humanoid robots to companies in early 2025.
Apptronik Chief Technology Officer Nick Paine said Apollo possesses clear advantages over its human counterparts, particularly endurance.
“We're targeting having this system online 22 hours a day,” Paine said. “This does have a swappable battery, so you can work for four hours, swap the battery and then keep going in a very quick duration. So, we're looking at keeping the system online for the most amount of time that we can.”
Some robots are already on the job – this year, Amazon started piloting a humanoid robot named Digit by the company Agility Robotics to assist in warehouse operations.
Warehouse automation analyst Rueben Scriven of Interact Analytics said job displacement through automation isn’t new – but the visceral feeling of seeing humanlike robots replacing humans will likely strike a nerve among workers.
“If you had maybe a robot arm or a mobile robot, whilst that does in some way signal job displacement, it doesn't necessarily spring to mind that this robot is going to take your job,” Scriven said “A humanoid robot is really job loss personified.”
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Yet the industry might need it. On Tuesday, the US Chamber of Commerce cited data showing 9.5 million job openings in the US with only 6.5 million unemployed workers able to fill them. Furthermore, 73 percent of warehouse operators indicated difficulty in attracting workers during a 2022 survey by labor marketplace company Instawork.
Apptronik CEO Jeff Cardenas said the sky’s the limit as Apollo is continually developed, tested and installed with new software.
“The approach is we're starting in the warehouse and on the manufacturing floor, but then it can move into retail, think retail to delivery and out more into what we call unstructured spaces,” Cardenas said.
In years to come, those “unstructured spaces” could include space itself, according to Azimi.
“Robots like Apollo are designed with modularity in mind to be able to adapt to many applications,” Azimi said. “And that's where NASA's really trying to get that insight – to see what are the key gaps, where we would need to invest in the future to bring a terrestrial system into the space environment and certified for operating in space.”
(Production: Evan Garcia)
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