The Russian space agency is planning to send its humanoid robot FEDOR to the International Space Station, Engadget reports. The android has already demonstrated its ability to shoot guns, drive cars and use a variety of tools, including drills.
FEDOR, developed in 2016, stands for Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research and seems to have been developed as a fighting robot. It was envisioned as a multi-purpose robot for work in dangerous environments — such as places with chemical or radioactive contamination, and natural disasters — on Earth, as well as for use in space. Unlike simpler Russian robots and drones, the android is designed for jobs where multitasking is required.
However, what the armed AI bot will be used for on the ISS – and indeed whether it will actually go – is not clear. Robotics and space exploration experts in the West envision such androids as helpers who would handle simple tasks, freeing astronauts to do more complex work.
Additionally, they imagine robots taking on jobs that are hazardous or physically grueling, such as venturing outside the spacecraft on extravehicular activity, or EVA, to perform repairs or deploy equipment.
Eventually, such machines also could be useful on lunar or Mars colonization missions, though that may require adapting their form from human-like to something more resembling a four-legged animal.
Alex Ellery, an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Canada’s Carleton University who worked on the European Space Agency’s ExoMars robotic rover, says that FEDOR, because of its complexity, faces some difficult challenges operating in space. Judging from photos, “it’s a pretty sophisticated kit,” he explains.
“It probably will require significant amounts of power and computational support.” That could mean that FEDOR might have to spend much of its time tethered to the spacecraft’s electrical supply, rather than risk running down its battery.
Aside from FEDOR, another humanoid robot is being developed for the ISS. That one is called Robonaut and is a product of NASA.
