Smartphone with 3D space scanner from Google combined with NASA SPHERES robots to work on the ISS

Something similar, only much more perfect, was shown in Prometheus.

Not so long ago, quite interesting news about a smartphone with a space scanner was published on Habré. This project was named Project Tango, and the author of it is a number of Google developers (in fact, the development is carried out within the company).


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The 5-inch smartphone itself is equipped with a stereo camera, sensors and software that track the position of the smartphone in 3D space, as well as scan the surrounding world in real time at a speed of 250 thousand measurements per second. All this is combined into a single 3D-model using a unique processor Myriad 1, developed by Movidius startup.

So, now these smartphones will be integrated into NASA's robotic areas, called SPHERES.

The size of the robots does not exceed the size of a volleyball ball, and the benefits of such a robot are much greater than those of the ball :) According to NASA, SPHERES should make regular walks around the ISS, monitoring the environment, including the technical equipment of the station. In addition, robots will assist astronauts in conducting emergency repairs and basic service procedures. Spheres can themselves move around the station with the help of gas engines (gas thrusters).



Perhaps in the future, robots will be able to work not inside, but outside the ISS, carrying out a regular circling of the station in order to identify various problems / conduct service operations.

Well, for orientation in the space sphere they use the possibilities of Project Tango. By the way, this is not the first Google smartphone that visited the ISS to work together with SPHERES. In 2011, the Nexus S was already in orbit, improving the navigation and functionality of SPHERES. Testing of the project will begin this year, as soon as smartphones "send" to the ISS.

Here is the video with the description of the project capabilities (the movie translated and voiced the paulpotseluev habrauser , thank you so much!):



Well, here's a video about the capabilities of the smartphone itself:



Via theverge