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NASA utilizes robots in a variety of ways. Each robot is designed for a specific purpose. For example, the robot VALKYRIE is designed by NASA for the colonization of Mars. Other robots such as ATHLETE are designed for mobility on a planet such as Mars or the Moon. NASA uses robots where humans cannot survive, which is outer space. Recently, NASA sent rovers to Mars such as Opportunity in order to view the surface of Mars and learn about the Various conditions of Mars. This rover also discovered the potential water outlets on Mars. Their information will help human space expeditions to Mars in the future. NASA is still developing new robots as we speak. NASA hopes to increase the potential of robots and develop new technologies and discoveries related to the Solar System.

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https://mars.nasa.gov/mer/highlights/

The 2 pictures are one of the rover Spirit landing and one of the rover Opportunity landing on mars This artical talks about the The rover spirits 5th year aneversery of the rover surviving 5 winters on mars

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Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity exploring the planet mars - facts, information, videos and pictures

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This rover helped  reveal evidence for asteroid impacts on ancient Mars could have produced key ingredients for life if the Martian atmosphere was rich in hydrogen. An early hydrogen-rich atmosphere on Mars could also explain how the planet remained habitable after its atmosphere thinned.

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Asteroid Bombardment, Hydrogen Make Great Recipe for Life on Mars

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A new study reveals asteroid impacts on ancient Mars could have produced key ingredients for life if the Martian atmosphere was rich in hydrogen. An early hydrogen-rich atmosphere on Mars could also explain how the planet remained habitable for a while after its atmosphere thinned.

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This is a picture of the Opportunity Rover which was sent by NASA to Mars. This Rover recently lost power and decommissioned on Mars

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Robonuat Is a robot that is meant to work out of the space shuttle.

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ATHLETE is a robotic wheels-on-limbs vehicle designed to have rolling mobility over Apollo-like undulating terrain, able to walk over rough or steep terrain. ATHLETE’s capabilities can enable missions on the surface of the Moon to reach essentially any desired site of interest and to load, transport, manipulate, and deposit payloads.

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This robot was deigned to help astrnuats with out of shuttle work

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Robots are the Key to Future Space Exploration -NASA

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Robots are the Key to Future Space Exploration -NASA

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This article talks about how NASA uses robots and artificial-intelligence in their space programs. NASA says that without Robots none of the space missions could have been possible. The International Space Station, the Mars Rovers would not have been worked so successfully without robots. Robots will now be sent to Mars and other planets to study their composition and surface. Robotic probes will be sent to asteroids to pluck up material and send it back to scientists on Earth. Robots will be the key to further exploration into space.

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As NASA's 30-year space shuttle program draws to a close, engineers at the space agency are focusing on building advanced robots that will delve deeper into space.

Robots have been a part of NASA's entire shuttle program, being used as various robotic arms onboard most space shuttles, as well as the International Space Station. The robotic arms moved massive payloads, carried astronauts during spacewalks and did the "heavy lifting" during the construction of the space station.

"You see this arm, this delicate looking arm, grabbing these huge payloads and moving them around with great precision," said Brian Roberts, a robotics specialist at Goddard Space Flight Center. "It really was ground breaking."

And while Roberts said the shuttle program, as well as the build out and operation of the space station, was a great test bed for space robotics, it turned out that robots were a critical ingredient for both programs.

"I don't think the space shuttle program could have done a great deal of their missions without robotics," he added. "You just couldn't have maintained the Hubble [Space Telescope] without robotics. There's no way even three or four astronauts floating around could have done that, and there's no way we could have built the space station without robotics. Just impossible."

But now that the shuttle fleet has officially been retired, where do space robotics go from here? Well, they go much deeper into space, said Roberts.

Robotic probes will be sent to asteroids to pluck up material and send it back to scientists on Earth, for instance. Robotic rovers will continue to study the surface of Mars.

And if humans are sent to back to the moon or to Mars for the first time, robots are likely to proceed them, digging for water and setting up an outpost that will keep humans sheltered and safe in a harsh and unfamiliar environment.

"Human-robotic cooperation -- I think it's an area that NASA is studying," Roberts said. "We're looking at roles that robots play, roles that humans play when they're there together with robots, and the roles robots will have after humans leave."

It should be a time of great advancement in robotics. And it will be key to humans moving deeper into outer space, said Roberts.

Actually, the Obama administration's new plan for NASA is for commercial companies to focus on building what essentially will be space taxis, while space engineers focus on things like next-generation heavy-lift engines and robotics.

"There is a lot of work to do in [terms of] how do we [use robots to] maximize the humans' work," said Roberts. "What smarts do you put in a robot to have them work nicely with humans? How do humans and robots work side-by-side. How do they not hurt the humans if a sensor goes bad?"

And NASA isn't new to the idea that humans and robots will work hand-in-hand on future space missions.

In 2008, Carl Walz, director of advanced capabilities at NASA and a former astronaut, said robots will be "absolutely critical" to future space exploration.

Actually, he said the nature of space exploration will change because of the way that robots will participate in it.

Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and desktop and laptop chips for Computerworld. Follow Sharon on Twitter at @sgaudin, on Google+ or subscribe to Sharon's RSS feed . Her e-mail address is sgaudin@computerworld.com.

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NASA says robots are key to future space exploration

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As NASA's 30-year space shuttle program draws to a close, engineers at the space agency are focusing on building advanced robots that will delve deeper into space. Robots have been a part of NASA's entire shuttle program, being used as various robotic arms onboard most space shuttles, as well as the International Space Station.

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Valkyrie, a humanoid robot designed by NASA to colonize Mars, is apparently dancing in this video. NASA's latest robotic addition had been created to "perform in extreme environments."  This robot competed in the Space Robotics challenge in 2016.

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Humanoid Robot R5: Valkyrie 'Dances' In NASA Music Video

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The rover opportunity showed that there are potential Water outlets on mars with wet hot and dry conditions

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After 15 years, the mission of NASA's Opportunity rover has come to an end, but its successes on Mars have earned it a spot in the robot hall of fame. Here's what you need to know about our intrepid Martian overachiever:
1. Opportunity was a twin.
The Mars Exploration Rovers mission featured two identical, golf-cart-sized, solar-powered rovers: Spirit and Opportunity. Spirit landed at Gusev Crater on Jan. 4, 2004. Opportunity landed on the opposite side of Mars at Meridiani Planum on Jan. 24, 2004 PST (Jan. 25 EST). Both rovers were managed for NASA by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
2. Opportunity and Spirit showed that Mars had the wet and warm conditions in its ancient past that were potentially hospitable to life.

Spirit And Opportunity By The Numbers: This infographic highlights NASA's twin robot geologists, the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) Spirit and Opportunity. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Full image and caption ›

3. Opportunity is an off-world record holder.
Foremost among Spirit and Opportunity's many science discoveries: Mars was likely wetter and warmer in the past. These conditions could have served as a cradle for life on Mars at a time when life first emerged on Earth.

Opportunity contributed several key findings to this conclusion. It was the first rover to identify and characterize sedimentary rocks on a planet other than Earth. Opportunity's measurements showed these rocks formed in ancient ephemeral playas. Opportunity also discovered small spheres of hematite nicknamed "blueberries" that formed late from rising, acidic groundwater. Once Opportunity reached the rim of Endeavour crater, the rover found white veins of the mineral gypsum - a telltale sign of water that traveled through underground fractures. Opportunity also found more compelling signs of Mars' watery past in the rocks of Endeavour Crater: clay minerals that formed in neutral-pH (not too acidic, not too basic) water. Of all the places studied by Opportunity, the environment at Endeavour had the friendliest conditions for ancient microbial life.
4. Opportunity was the little rover that could.
Opportunity worked longer on the surface of Mars than any other robot - more than 14 years. This far exceeded the original 90-day mission planned for Opportunity and Spirit.

During Opportunity's time on Mars, it also drove a total of 28.06 miles (45.16 kilometers), clinching the record for longest drive on another world in 2014.

Opportunity didn't survive for over 14 years because its mission was easy. It encountered challenges that required its engineers to be resourceful. For instance, the rover's right-front wheel sometimes drew more current than the other wheels, so engineers often drove the rover backward to extend the right front wheel's life.
5. Opportunity and Spirit showed us the beauty of Mars.
The terrain was treacherous. After the rover landed at Eagle Crater, its wheels slipped on the loose slopes when it first attempted to drive out of the crater. Rover planners had to come up with creative driving strategies to get out - something they did again at Endurance Crater, where slopes were as steep as 31 degrees. On April 26, 2005, Opportunity's wheels dug into a soft, wind-sculpted sand ripple and got stuck for several nail-biting weeks at " Purgatory Dune." But after extensive testing in a Mars-like sandbox at JPL, the team was able to carefully shimmy out of the Martian sand trap.
6. The story of Opportunity and Spirit is not over. Their lessons live on in current and future Mars missions.
Opportunity encountered two mission-threatening dust storms that blocked sunlight from reaching its solar panels. It survived a dust storm in 2007 by minimizing activities and maintaining enough power in its batteries to recover when the skies cleared. Unfortunately, the 2018 dust storm blotted out even more sunlight and kept the skies above Opportunity dark about a month longer.

Opportunity and Spirit were avid documentarians, giving us a human-scale view of what it was like to be on Mars. They returned over 342,000 raw images, which were promptly posted online for everyone's enjoyment. These two rovers also produced 31 stunning 360-degree color panoramas.

The most memorable images Opportunity took - including ripples of sand that resembled waves on water, patches of jumbled rock on a crater rim, whirling dust devils and its own tracks along a ridge - revealed the otherworldly beauty of Mars and the drama of exploration.

The success of the Mars Exploration Rovers helped drive the growth of NASA's Mars program, building support for orbiters and new kinds of rovers. Spirit and Opportunity showed how mobile robots on Mars could communicate reliably with Earth (either directly or by employing orbiters around Mars as relays back to our home planet), use 3-D vision to navigate the Martian terrain and make autonomous science observations.
News Media Contact
Curiosity and the upcoming Mars 2020 rovers build upon the lessons of Spirit and Opportunity. And scientists will continue to make new discoveries from the Mars Exploration Rovers data for years to come.

Spirit and Opportunity have been a fertile training ground for the many hundreds of engineers and planetary scientists who have learned at their robotic knees. A number have gone on to lead other space missions. Many of those currently operating Opportunity are sharing their expertise part-time with other missions exploring our solar system. For most, working on Spirit and Opportunity has been transformative. You can read many of their stories here.

For more highlights of the Mars Exploration Rover mission, visit:
https://mars.nasa.gov/mer/highlights/

Jia-Rui Cook
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-5011
jccook@jpl.nasa.gov

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Six Things to Know About NASA's Opportunity Rover - NASA's Mars Exploration Program

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After 15 years, the mission of NASA's Opportunity rover has come to an end, but its successes on Mars have earned it a spot in the robot hall of fame. Here's what you need to know about our intrepid Martian overachiever: 1. Opportunity was a twin.

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1 of the only 16 roots that were able to use human tools and self control excess leaches

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This robot, named Valkyrie is being developed by NASA. The mission- to colonize Mars. NASA believes that this robot can help humans colonize Mars, aka make it livable. Although this objective is not in sight yet, scientists are testing the robot with conditions similar to that on the red planet. A competition will take place in order to decide which team will pilot Valkyrie. Basically it is the story of the Martian, minus the growing of potatoes

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In just a month, teams will guide this 300-pound, 6-foot-tall humanoid robot in a series of simulated trials as part of NASA's Space Robotics Challenge.

Meet Valkyrie: She's 6 feet and 2 inches tall, weighs about 300 pounds, and cost $2 million - and one day this humanoid space robot, or more likely her much more advanced descendant, might help humans colonize Mars.

Although that ultimate goal is still a long ways off, Valkyrie, a prototype developed by NASA's Johnson Space Center, will take her first Martian-specific test next month, as 20 teams guide a simulated version of the robot through a set of scenarios. Winners may take home a hefty prize: $1 million is on the table.

Valkyrie: A Tour

At first sight, Valkyrie looks not unlike Iron Man, the glowing circle on her chest marking her status (blue when motors are engaged, for example). But draw back the infrared-transparent faceplate and instead of Tony Stark, you'll find a whirring LIDAR sensor that's constantly scanning the surroundings for objects and obstacles.

Cameras and sensors abound on Valkyrie - in addition to a MultiSense SL camera on her head, which combines laser, 3D stereo, and video to get a sense of the environment around her, additional "hazard cameras" look ahead and behind from her torso. On each three-fingered hand, 38 sensors help maintain dexterity. Numerous small motors ( actuators, in engineer-speak) control the robot's 44 degrees of freedom, including seven-jointed arms.

The brains of the robot are two Intel Core i7 computers, which combine the sensors' input and determine the best course of action. And, while testing is generally done with a power cord in place, Valkyrie also has a battery pack that's good for about an hour.

All of that sensing, computing, and moving will be essential to Valkyrie's future mission on Mars. While NASA initially developed Valkyrie (or, as she was initially called, R5), for disaster relief, in 2014 the agency changed course to reconfigure her for deep space. As one of a class of "caretaker" robots, Valkyrie might help set up living compounds on Mars, maintaining power and life support systems until the humans arrive.

Space Robotics Challenge

To that end, Valkyrie and the humans developing her are now facing space-based trials, such as the the Space Robotics Challenge that takes place in June. Here's the setup:

In the not too distant future, R5 has arrived on Mars along with supplies ahead of a human mission. Overnight a dust storm damaged the habitat and solar array, and caused the primary communication antenna to become misaligned. R5 must now repair an air leak in the habitat, deploy a new solar panel, and align the communication antenna.

So basically, Valkyrie will replay the plot of The Martian, minus the part about growing potatoes.

Twenty teams will compete in the challenge, which is entirely simulated: teams will issue computer commands to a virtual Valkyrie, who will operate within a virtual Martian backdrop. But virtual doesn't mean easy - teams will have to deal with strictly defined tasks, limited bandwidth, and a built-in latency designed to mimic the communications delay between Earth and Mars. You can follow the teams' progress on Twitter.

But the Space Robotics Challenge is only one step of a marathon. NASA has also provided MIT and Northeastern University with Valkyrie prototypes for further development; Northeastern's Valkyrie is hosted at the NERVE (New England Robotics Validation and Experimentation) Center of University of Massachusetts, Lowell. A third group at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, purchased a Valkyrie prototype from NASA.

These three teams are teaching Valkyrie complex subjects, such as how to walk across uneven surfaces and grasp different-shaped objects. They're also learning how robots and humans can best communicate with each other.

Why a Humanoid?

Whether you follow Valkyrie's progress on Twitter or see a live demo of her abilities, as I did at the NERVE Center in April, one thing soon becomes clear: making a humanoid robot is hard. On the one hand, it's pretty incredible to watch a person-shaped machine walk up and down a ramp or navigate a doorway. On the other hand, it's also incredible how much work it has taken to get here.

"Valkyrie can currently walk over flat terrain by balancing her weight at all times," says Taskin Padir (Northeastern University). "That's why it looks slightly different than human walking." The ability to walk on soft or uneven terrain, he adds, is the next goal.

Watch Valkyrie show off her balancing skills in this video:

Replicating humans' ability to walk has long been a robotics goal, but it's still not foolproof*, which is why space-based robots (such as Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity) have so far still relied on wheels to get around. But when it comes to, say, building human habitats on Mars, robots will have to be human-shaped - because ultimately, it will be humans, not robots, living and working on Mars.

* At least one other humanoid robot has made strides in walking ability, but Atlas, created by Boston Dynamics, is different from Valkyrie in some key ways. It can navigate freakily well across uneven terrain thanks in part to its hydraulic power, but fluid pressure (and possible accompanying leaks) is not particularly well-suited to space. So Valkyrie uses less powerful but more reliable electric actuators to keep her balance.

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Meet Valkyrie, NASA's Space Robot - Sky & Telescope

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In just a month, teams will guide this 300-pound, 6-foot-tall humanoid robot in a series of simulated trials as part of NASA's Space Robotics Challenge. Meet Valkyrie: She's 6 feet and 2 inches tall, weighs about 300 pounds, and cost $2 million - and one day this humanoid space robot, or more likely her much more advanced descendant, might help humans colonize Mars.