NASA robot ‘Valkyrie’ paves way for robot helpers on Mars

Image: YouTube/NASA Johnson

Robot helpers in space is something of a dream for many. It has been depicted in many works of science fiction, both in text and film. NASA’s “Valkyrie” humanoid robot currently seems to be paving the way for this dream to become a reality.

Northeastern PhD student Murphy Wonsick said in an interview with TechCruch that the idea is to send robots to far off places like Mars, where they will construct habitat for human colonists to occupy at a later date.

“She [Valkyrie] can autonomously make decisions, move around and accomplish tasks,” says Wonsick.

Valkyrie itself won’t make it to Mars. However, it is hoped that its design and the knowledge gained from its deployment will help create the robots that will accompany humans into space.

Wonsick believes that having a 6-foot bipedal robot makes sense because it would be able to efficiently navigate the same space that humans do.

“The idea of developing a robot that looks like us, is that we built this environment for us,” says Wonsick

The next step for Valkyrie is to participate in the Space Robotics Challenge. Twenty teams will be vying for the $1 million prize money. The challenge is a virtual scenario where robots like Valkyrie are given tasks to complete as if they had just landed on Mars.

It’s difficult to determine a timeline as to when the first androids will roll off the production line. But given how quickly technology is progressing and evolving, twenty years from now could be the day that every science fiction buff has been waiting for. Alfred Bayle/JB