NASA Tests ARMAADAS Robot Ability For Space Exploration

ARMAADAS robot testing (photo: dock. NASA)

JAKARTA - The United States Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) is developing hardware and software to explore space objects such as the Moon and Mars.

The device, which is made in the form of a robot, is carried out by the Automatically Configurable Mission Adaptable Digital System (ARMAADAS) team. The team is trying to create robots that can work in orbit, on the Moon, or on other planets.

The worm-shaped robot can assemble, repair, and re-configurate structural materials for a variety of large-scale hardware systems. Currently, the robot is being tested at NASA's Maritime Research Center.

The researchers demonstrated the ARMAADAS robot in the laboratory to see the system's capabilities, structural building blocks, and smart algorithms of the robot. While testing, the researchers analyzed the performance of the robotic system.

"The assembly experiment shows an important part of the system, namely robotic scalability and reliability as well as the performance of the structures built. This type of testing is key to finalizing technology for space applications," said ARMAADAS chief engineer Christine Gregg.

To maximize testing, three robots developed by ARMAADAS work independently in one team. They built a warehouse-sized shelter building using hundreds of building blocks.

From the test results, it was noted that the high strength, stiffness, and low mass of structural products that ARMAADAS robots make are comparable to the current highest performance. This structure field shows that the robot's performance is very good.

"It's shocking how strong and stiff this system is, given its (unperfect) appearance," said ARMAADAS Principal Researcher Kenny Cheung. The big structure of the small building blocks allows us to use good materials at the lowest cost.

ARMAADAS is not yet perfect and still needs to be developed. Once this technology is completed, NASA plans to send the robot into a space exploration mission to build large-scale infrastructure.