SpaceX was finally able to launch its Dragon cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station this week after the first launch was scrubbed due to bad weather conditions. The spaceship transports a lot of neat stuff to the ISS, including an improved version of a floating robot with AI-powered drive that lost its coolness when interacting with its astronaut conductor.
About a year ago, the CIMON robot was tested for its ability to act as a robot assistant for scientists on board the space station. It is designed to provide information about crucial tasks, to give reminders and to give useful tips. Unfortunately, the first bone iteration tested in space had a number of emotional demons.
In December last year ESA published a video about the robot doing its thing on the space station. It seemed to be going well, but the robot started acting spontaneously, well, bizarre. He seemed to hurt his “feelings” and then questioned his handler, Alexander Gerst. It accused Gerst of being “mean” and then demanded to know if Gerst liked it or not. It was incredibly strange.
As Reuters reports, this improved version is also equipped with “emotionally-perceiving” functions. Whether it will be as moody as the first CIMON bone is questionable.
“The overall goal is to really create a true companion,” CIMON 2's chief architect told Reuters. “The relationship between an astronaut and CIMON is really important. It tries to understand if the astronaut is sad, he is angry, happy and so on.”
AI has the potential to be a great ally for space station astronauts and for spacemen participating in future missions to other worlds. Ultimately, groups such as ESA and NASA believe that AI will be able to lead the show so to speak and maintain different space systems, while giving human scientists more time to focus on science.
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