The Russian space robot "Fedor" has learned to shoot with both hands. Space "Avatar": what the new rescue robot FEDOR is capable of Robot Fedor technical characteristics
Previously known as "Avatar", the robot received a new name - FEDOR - Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research (Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research) and a new profession. Now he will not only save people from the rubble, but also fly into space.
The development of the Avatar robot as part of the Rescuer project began in 2014. In December 2015, by presidential decree, the National Center for the Development of Technologies and Basic Elements of Robotics was created, which took over the coordination of the project.
“The FEDOR robot was created according to the Rescuer project. And the fact that an anthropomorphic robot is applicable in a variety of fields is not surprising, because the task was to create a robot that can replace a person in the infrastructure in which a person operates,” TASS said Head of the "Rescuer" project of the National Center for the Development of Technologies and Basic Elements of Robotics Sergei Khurs.
On the obstacle course
In the near future, FEDOR must go through an obstacle course: drive a car, follow a route in a standard building, overcome a special obstacle course, demonstrate handling of hand-held power tools and handling of special tools used by the Ministry of Emergency Situations - a hydraulic spreader and a jack.
“This is a mandatory minimum that is included in this project,” Hurs explained.
Control of the robot must be combined: it must perform some functions automatically, and others by copying the operator’s movements.
In the future, the robot should not only enter the building and climb the stairs, but open the door with a key, turn on the light, and open the water tap. “The goal is to reach very fine motor skills. I would like the robot to learn how to light matches,” Hurs said about the prospects of the project.
“The whole of September, FEDOR was busy passing the tests provided for in the technical specifications, including the obstacle course. If we say whether the tests can be considered passed, then we can say so. But this is not yet the delivery of the project to the customer. There is still something to polish.” , - said Khurs.
Professions for a robot
After demonstrating the skills of FEDOR, a video of which Deputy Prime Minister Rogozin posted online, he instructed the Advanced Research Foundation, together with the Rocket and Space Corporation Energia, to adapt the robot to participate in the flight of the promising manned spacecraft Federation.
In low-Earth orbit, FEDOR can be used to assist astronauts during work in outer space, and in the future, completely replace them in this work.
“Every human spacewalk is a feat that requires preparation and courage. If there is no need to risk a person for every trifle, and their tasks will be performed by automatic devices, of course, it will be much better,” said Hurs.
The robot will have to work in vacuum conditions and serious temperature changes. Brothers of the FEDOR robot will be able to sink to the bottom of the ocean and work at nuclear and chemical industry enterprises.
“They can be used wherever it is advisable to replace a person so as not to endanger his life and health,” said the head of the Rescuer project.
“This robot has a lot of professions, which is why we created such a complex obstacle course. We taught him to drive a car not so that he could replace drivers, but in case he had to replace a person in a dangerous situation and get behind the wheel,” explained Khurs.
Autonomy
Now FEDOR is controlled in three ways: via radio, optical fiber or regular electrical cable.
Power is supplied to the robot's systems either through a cable or by batteries mounted on the back like a backpack. The batteries provide from half an hour to an hour of battery life.
“Currently, other projects are developing power sources that will give it autonomy in hours,” Hurs explained.
However, the issue of autonomy, he noted, is not a priority. “If a robot performs operations that are dangerous for people, then I think changing the battery once an hour is not a problem,” he clarified.
In addition to remotely copying operator actions and autonomously performing assigned tasks, Fedor will be able to recognize and carry out human voice commands.
"The operator will not need to press any buttons. All commands can be given by voice, and to make sure that the command was received correctly, the robot will repeat the command given to it by voice and then begin to execute it," Hurs said.
The main skill that developers include in the robot’s autonomous mode is the ability to stand on its own feet, i.e. maintain balance regardless of the surface on which the robot moves or external influences, i.e. blows, attempts to knock over the robot.
“The human vestibular apparatus works automatically, and we don’t even think about it. It is necessary that the operator does not think about how to maintain balance while controlling the robot. This should be the task of the on-board control system,” said the specialist.
The base of autonomous movements that the robot can perform independently will be constantly updated. The developers propose to involve students from specialized universities in replenishing the library of standard movements.
However, from the teleoperator control mode, i.e. The robot will not get rid of copying the actions of a human operator any time soon, given that the creation of artificial intelligence has not yet led to the desired results.
“Human intelligence in robotics cannot be replaced for a long time, but it can be automated as much as possible, which is what we are doing. Automation of functions allows the operator not to deal with little things, such as maintaining the balance of the robot. Otherwise, it will be a child around whom nannies will fuss, but the opposite is necessary, so that the robot can be an assistant to humans,” Khurs emphasized.
Man transforms nature more actively, on a larger scale and more successfully than other species. Most of us have little knowledge of the world beyond what humans themselves have created. From houses and roads to closets and keyboards - everything here is adapted to our convenience and our anatomy. Some non-anthropomorphic guest will only have to sympathize when he tries to climb the steps or open the door lock.
Robots, whom fate has thrown into the anthropogenic world, face the same difficulties. The rover's complex wheeled platform, so magnificent in the rocky desert of the Red Planet, will fail in front of an ordinary ladder, and powerful and precise industrial robots are not always able to cope with a cup of water. If a robot needs to live among people, side by side with us, it will have to become like us - humanoid, or simply an android.
No robot, of course, will become a “real, living boy.” And this is for the better: without needing oxygen or heat, without fear of heat, vacuum and radiation, without requiring a lunch break or a day off, androids will be able to become assistants, ready to go where it is too dangerous or simply difficult for people.
“Seven to eight hours without a break is the maximum time that today a person can work in a spacesuit, in outer space, and such an output costs several million dollars. Therefore, here androids can be an excellent replacement for people. But in general, the list of their activities is far from exhausted,” Alexey Bogdanov, chief designer of the NPO Android Technology, told us. “Disarming dangerous objects, rescuing victims, providing first aid – we are developing all areas.”
First profession
The prototype of the anthropomorphic robotic system FEDOR (full name - Final Experimental Demonstration Object of Research, or simply “Final Experimental Demonstration Object of Research”) was originally created as a rescuer. He is able to make his way through the rubble of a destroyed building on foot or even crawling, find the victim and provide him with first aid - at least deliver water, administer painkillers and organize communication.
The robot can be controlled remotely via wires, fiber optics or radio communications.
In the fall, FEDOR successfully demonstrated this by passing tests before the commission of the Advanced Research Foundation (APF), under whose auspices the project is being worked on at Android Technology. The unique mechanism of the lower extremities allowed him not only to walk and crawl, but also to do the splits, climb over obstacles and even get into the car on his own - in the driver’s seat.
“He entered the building, climbed the stairs, opened the door with the key, entered the apartment, turned on the light, turned on the water tap,” Evgeniy Dudorov, technical director of the NPO Android Technology, told us. “There were also tasks to overcome obstacles: crawl 10 m, climb through a low window, walk over a pile of broken bricks...” FEDOR also demonstrated confident handling of household tools, from wire cutters and a screwdriver to a circular saw, with special equipment for rescuers and doctors. Finally, he got into the car (UAZ with a manual transmission), squeezed the clutch, threw the speed lever - and drove off.
Born to act
Electric drives with a total power of 5 kW give the robot a decent “muscular” force, equivalent to 6.8 horsepower. Mechanical joints provide the body with 46 degrees of freedom, and taking into account dependent types of mobility, in which several individual coordinated movements are coupled, their number already reaches 72. Every millisecond, the control computer updates information from the sensors and issues new commands to the drives.
The main computer is complemented by a pair of Nvidia computing systems that solve problems of orientation and navigation in space. Here, in the head module, information from two cameras equipped with autofocus and autozoom functions, as well as a thermal imager and microphones, 16 rangefinder lasers, GPS and GLONASS sensors is integrated. The pressure on the support and data from three built-in inertial systems are also taken into account, which allow the robot to estimate the position of its body.
Based on this data, FEDOR - just like us - automatically constructs a three-dimensional picture of the surrounding environment, adding a model of itself to it and highlighting people, obstacles and other key objects on it: tools, stairs, doors, chairs, etc. For each of the recognized items, the robot's memory stores a library of standard actions, selecting the desired scenario as needed. In performing universal operations that do not require high precision and coordination, FEDOR is autonomous. “We can say that he is half intelligent,” adds Alexey Bogdanov.
Distance education
If we are talking about ordinary walking and interaction with ordinary objects, FEDOR can handle it on its own: “For example, when it cuts reinforcement with a grinder, it works fully automatically,” explains Alexey Bogdanov. “Selects when to turn the tool on and off, the amount of pressure to apply, etc.” However, when it comes to working in a non-deterministic, complex environment or manipulating very thin and small objects, then people come to the aid of the robot.
The lack of special skills is complemented by a “copy control” system, which allows him to simply repeat the most important movements behind the operator, who can remain at a comfortable distance from what is happening. Get to the right place, pick up a screwdriver or syringe, balance your own body, focus cameras, apply pressure - the robot will do all this on its own. But getting a needle into a muscle or a screwdriver bit into a self-tapping screw is a task for remote control. This approach can be compared to our own body: we perform most routine operations, including maintaining balance or driving a car, without the participation of consciousness, which is activated only when solving particularly complex problems.
The robot will have to wait until it becomes fully autonomous, at least until sufficiently powerful artificial intelligence is created. For complex movements and manipulations, a “copying control” system is used. It performs most routine operations automatically. FEDOR can be equipped with a voice control system and carry out clearly defined verbal commands.
People do not need additional training to work with FEDOR. “The very concept of “copy control” was created with the idea that a person could see through the “eyes” of the robot as if it were their own, and move its “hands” as if it were their own,” adds Alexey Bogdanov. Any specialist can get into the “skin” of a robot avatar, sharing with him his skills and movements of a sapper, paramedic, rescuer or even an astronaut.
Work dynasty
According to the developers, it will take the entire planned three-year period for Fedor to master the new and complex profession of astronaut. Until 2021, it is necessary to work out radiation protection, ensure uninterrupted operation of engines, mechanics and electronics in a deep vacuum, with sudden temperature changes and an almost complete absence of gravity. You will also need to master special scenarios for working with a special tool. However, in 2021, when FEDOR takes off on its maiden flight aboard the new Federation spacecraft, we will have a double reason to be proud - a state-of-the-art ship and a robot, the first of its kind.
“There are no analogues to this project in Russia, and in the world, work of this level is carried out by only a few companies,” says Evgeny Dudorov. — At one time in the USA there was a similar project called SAFFiR, an android that was intended to extinguish fires on sea ships. The most developed of them can be called the ATLAS robot, created under the patronage of the DARPA agency.” However, according to developers from the NPO Android Technology, FEDOR is in many ways more advanced than its American competitor, which is not capable of crawling, driving a car with a manual transmission, or simply getting into it on its own. “Initially, our task was to develop a universal control system for an anthropomorphic robotic complex, regardless of specific abilities and purpose,” continues Evgeniy Dudorov. — For this purpose, several modes were implemented: automated, supervisory, remote-controlled and combined. And if initially we were really focused on creating a rescue robot, now we are looking at its capabilities much more broadly. All of these control options are feasible and suitable for a wide variety of missions both on Earth and in space. We are working on projects for a ship robot, a sapper robot, and others.”
“We live in interesting times,” concludes Alexey Bogdanov. — We are entering a new, sixth technological structure. Remember the proliferation of cellular communications: we are waiting for the same explosion of robotics. In the next 20-30 years, we will see more and more androids on the streets.”
In 2022, the “anthropomorphic rescue robot” Fedor should go into space on the Federation ship. RBC magazine found out how an android designed to help the Ministry of Emergency Situations and cosmonauts was created and how much it cost
Photo: Photo: Arseny Neskhodimov for RBC
The Alpha Center business complex is located in the historical part of Magnitogorsk, the scientific and production association (NPO) Android Technology rents several premises here with a total area of 1.2 thousand square meters. m. The company calls this room a fitness laboratory: there used to be a room for aerobics and yoga here, recalls NPO technical director Evgeny Dudorov, who is giving a correspondent for RBC magazine a tour of the enterprise.
Scattered across several laboratories are various robot parts that employees are currently working on. “We call it robotic dismemberment,” Dudorov grins. The room smells of heated plastic: on one floor there is a 3D printer on which the company prints the parts needed to create robots - all of which are assembled by hand.
In 2018, Android Technology employees will move to the left bank part of Magnitogorsk, where only 10% of the city’s population lives. If you look from the right bank of the Ural River to the left, you will notice the smoking chimneys of industrial enterprises - the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works and its subsidiaries. “Now we feel like we are in rented housing, and there the site will be completely ours,” Dudorov rejoices. The company will receive 32 thousand sq. m. m, of which about a third will be occupied by office buildings, and three testing grounds and our own production lines will appear nearby.
Dudorov has been working at Android Technology for more than three years. Every week he has to fly to Moscow - about 80 flights a year: the main customers are based in the capital, various conferences and exhibitions are held. In addition, to fly to another city you still have to come to the capital. “I already perceive the plane as a bus,” Dudorov laughs.
For 11 years, Android Technology has produced 50 robots for private companies, departments and corporations. Among its partners and customers are the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the FSB, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Ministry of Health, the Cosmonaut Training Center named after. Gagarin, Russian Atomic Community, Rocket and Space Corporation (RSC) Energia and others. The annual budget of Android Technology in 2014-2016 was about 500 million rubles: the NPO is developing with its own funds and money received from contracts, including government ones.
35% of the funds are spent on materials and components and on employee salaries, 10% each on the work of contractors, payment of rent and housing and communal services, and modernization of the enterprise. The company has existed for the second decade, but the first mentions of it in the federal media appeared only three years ago.
Emergency Situations Assistant
A robot will be created in Russia that can be controlled by wearing a duplicate suit, as in the movie “Avatar,” Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin wrote in a column for Rossiyskaya Gazeta in 2014. This is a joint work of the Foundation for Advanced Research (APF), the Ministry of Emergency Situations and Android Technology. Later, the project was called “Rescuer”, since upon its completion a robot was supposed to appear that could replace a person in life-threatening conditions, for example, during rescue operations after an industrial explosion, during a house collapse, natural disasters, etc.
Evgeny Dudorov is confident that robots will explore the Moon and planets in the future
“Android technology” turned out to be “a clear leader in the domestic market for developers of anthropomorphic robots,” says Sergei Khurs, project manager of the National Center for the Development of Technologies and Basic Elements of Robotics of the Federal Property Fund. In a conversation with RBC magazine, Khurs called the choice of the Magnitogorsk company as the main implementer of the Rescuer project logical: before this, the FPI studied a list of a dozen universities and companies that worked in the same direction.
The creation of the robot, which would later be called Fedor, took place in two stages and took two years and four months. First, the company created five technological prototypes for testing software: two of them looked like full-fledged robots, the rest did not have an upper or lower part. One of the first prototypes of Fyodor “met” with Patriarch Kirill in October 2016, during an Orthodox student forum. The robot was controlled by an operator in a backup suit: Fyodor extended his hand to the patriarch, but he did not shake it.
One of the prototype robots received a hydraulic drive, but after testing it had to be abandoned due to the high price of the mechanism and its unreliability, explains Dudorov. As a result, the final version of Fedor is electrically powered, he adds.
“At the first stage, we made several typical mistakes,” admits Alexey Bogdanov, general designer of the NPO Android Technology.
When the first versions of Fedor performed tasks, it turned out that in a lying position the robot stopped “seeing” the space in front of it: it became clear that it needed to have a movable head. When the robot first tried to get into a car, it turned out that its spine and hip joint were not mobile enough. And during tests in 20-degree frost, Fedor stopped working because it was made of aluminum and cooled too quickly, recalls the general designer.
“If the car is not warmed up, it is difficult to start it. This is what happened with the robot: we solved this problem with the help of special equipment - clothes with a built-in heating system,” explains Bogdanov.
The robot's head has video cameras and a computer that processes the image and builds a three-dimensional picture. (Photo: Photo: Arseny Neskhodimov for RBC)
In 2015, Android Technology began the second stage of the project - the creation of the final version of the anthropomorphic rescue robot. It was at this point that it received the name FEDOR - Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research. However, the decoding of the abbreviation in “Android Technology” was invented after the robot received its name, Dudorov admitted.
At one of the many exhibitions, the automated rescuer was named Fedor by Rogozin, who is the chairman of the board of trustees of the Fund, said Khurs. He did not specify why Rogozin chose this particular name, but it is known that the deputy prime minister’s grandson’s name is Fedor.
Import independence
15 thousand parts, about 20 hp, or 13.5 kW, which corresponds to the power of a motorcycle - this is what the anthropomorphic robot from Magnitogorsk now looks like, says Bogdanov. The robot's height is 180 cm, and its weight, depending on components, can reach 160 kg. In addition, he has interchangeable sets of arms and legs.
The cost of the entire Rescuer project has not been disclosed. A source close to the project says that the creation of Fedor cost approximately 300 million rubles. The components that make up the Magnitogorsk robot cost about 25 million rubles, Dudorov gives the figure.
Robots have a fairly high cost, since each of them is created individually, Bogdanov explains: in the USA, such an invention can cost about $40 million (about 2.3 billion rubles). “When robots are mass-produced, they will cost about 1 million rubles, the same as an average sedan,” he predicts.
There are about 120 models of anthropomorphic, that is, full-size and humanoid robots in the world. Fedor is not unique, but he has qualities that no one else has. He can independently open the door, get into the car, depress the clutch and gas and drive in autonomous mode, Vladimir Bely, head of the Alpha Robotics Venture fund, explains to RBC magazine.
Russian “avatar” can repeat the actions of the operator even at a distance of thousands of kilometers (Photo: Photo: Arseny Neskhodimov for RBC)
Fedor has excellent motor skills, he can navigate in space by turning his head - this is important both for space flights and for working in extreme situations, the expert continues. At the same time, the Americans are investing more in the dynamic balance system, which is why their robots already know how to do somersaults, but Fedor does not yet. For Russia, it is too expensive to use and “kill” robots in this way: for example, the Boston Dynamics company’s robots constantly fall and break.
Half of all Fedor components are domestically produced. There are no Chinese parts in it: the company conducted comparative tests, and none of them showed the advantages of Asian technology, “even if it were three to four times cheaper,” Dudorov shrugs. But the Russian “avatar” contains components from Switzerland, created to special order. “They even have the inscription “Android technology” on them,” Dudorov points to one of the parts in Fedor’s hand. Other producing countries include Japan, America, and Germany. All partner companies worked according to the drawings that were sent to them from Magnitogorsk.
About 90% of electronic components for Fedor are produced in Russia: for example, Android Technology purchases them from its long-time partners, the Abris Technology and Silicium enterprises from St. Petersburg. The first Russian rescue robot operates on the basis of a real-time operating system (used for so-called precision-operating devices, such as industrial ones), which was also created in St. Petersburg based on Linux, says Bogdanov. “Microsoft also has similar operating systems, but we need to choose a domestic manufacturer so as not to depend on other countries,” he smiles.
Fine hand motor skills made it possible to teach Fedor how to shoot from two pistols at a group of targets (Photo: Photo: Arseny Neskhodimov for RBC)
The Russian robot has a combined control system: it can work autonomously for an hour or be controlled by an operator when he puts on a suit and “possesses” Fedor. To recharge the robot, you will have to plug it in: it consumes no more energy than an electric kettle.
In addition, the operator can control the robot in the so-called supervisor mode - showing what needs to be done on the monitor screen. You can work with Fedor even over long distances - during one of the tests, an employee in a backup suit was in a German city located 4 thousand km from Magnitogorsk. The software is capable of transmitting a signal to another planet, but feedback, that is, the robot’s actions, will be carried out with a delay, explains Dudorov. It is the ability to control the robot at a long distance that will be most in demand for the next project.
A day in space
“A country torn to shreds is creating a robot to conquer space,” Rogozin wrote on Twitter on October 8, 2016. He attached a video to the tweet in which Fedor does push-ups, lifts dumbbells, drives a car and performs other actions. This was the first announcement that Fedor would fly into space, says Dudorov.
He recalls that after the robot passed all 56 tests at the test site of the Central Research Institute of Precision Engineering in Moscow, Rogozin offered to show it at RSC Energia.
RSC Energia is already starting to prepare the space experiment Tester (a follower of the Rescuer project), in which Fedor will fly on board the Federation ship as an assistant pilot with his own tasks, says Khurs.
The new manned spacecraft "Federation" should replace the Russian "Soyuz" and "Progress". The terms of reference are ready, contractual documents are being agreed upon, Dudorov confirms (RSC Energia did not respond to a request from RBC magazine). The first flight of the Federation in automatic mode is planned for 2022, and with a crew - for 2024. To begin with, Fedor will stay in space for less than a day - during this time the ship will make several orbits around the Earth, says Bogdanov: “The first flights of ships are always dangerous, so the robot will take on all the risks instead of living people.” After three or four such flights, cosmonauts will be able to control the ship, and Fedor can be unloaded on the International Space Station (ISS), the chief designer noted.
The new Android Technology platform will allow you to create robots not only manually, but also to launch production lines (Photo: Photo: Arseny Neskhodimov for RBC)
To fly into space, Android Technology will create at least three more Fedorovs: one of them will be tested in laboratory conditions (exposure to radiation, weightlessness), the other will be tested inside a mock-up of the Federation ship, and the third will fly into space. Unlike the current Fedor, the future robot astronaut must consist of 90% domestic components: in the space industry there is only a limited list of permitted imported components.
Android Technology specialists will make most of the elements themselves; the basic computer, that is, Fedor’s “brain,” and the matrix of video cameras will be imported, Bogdanov promises. In addition, the robot will have to “get in shape”: now it is broad in the shoulders and a bit heavy - the maximum weight allowed for it is 96 kg, says the chief designer.
For the flight, Fedor will also have batteries and a “black box” specially designed for space; the robot will have to enter the ship itself, control its flight parameters, generate heat as a person would do, and record all events that occur. The Russian “avatar” will have to interact with the Mission Control Center (MCC) itself and perform other actions that in the future will be performed by living people, says Bogdanov.
One human flight into space costs $2-4 million, and each human exit into open space costs another $0.5 million, Dudorov estimates. Therefore, he is sure: it is easier to take a robot, deliver it into space, place it on the surface of a spacecraft and control it from Earth, performing the same actions as a person. A hypothetical Fedor could save about $120 million over ten years, Dudorov says.
The robot Fedor had several “predecessors” on which experts tested the operation of software and technologies (Photo: Photo: Arseny Neskhodimov for RBC)
And the state corporation Rosatom, which cooperates with Android Technology, has already looked at several in-demand professions for Fedor, the FPI said: a radioactive waste sorter and a specialist in cutting the hulls of ships with nuclear power plants, where a lot of operations are still performed by people.
In 2017, the FPI and the Ministry of Education and Science announced a competition to create software for the first Fedor: “its potential has not been selected,” Dudorov insists. 30 Russian universities took the initiative to create software for autonomous control.
After the completion of the “Rescuer” project, the Russian “avatar” did not rest for a long time.
“Robot platform F.E.D.O.R. showed two-handed shooting skills,” Rogozin wrote on Twitter on April 13, 2017. The developers added new technologies to it, thanks to which Fedor learned how to shoot in Macedonian style from two pistols at a group of targets, including moving ones. “This video backfired on us - one of the German partners refused to work with us because the Russian robot was shooting,” Dudorov says with annoyance.
In the meantime, Fedor the rescuer “lives” in one of the laboratories of “Android Technology”. The robot is mounted on a special metal stand that holds it while it is turned off. "Ready for work!" - Fyodor says in a male voice at the moment of activation.
For a photo shoot in the RBC magazine, Android Technology employees programmed Fedor to carry out several commands. “When you see a Japanese robot going down the steps, it’s preceded by several weeks of training,” explains Dudorov. During demonstration performances for us, Fedor duplicated the actions of an operator dressed in a special suit: he took an apple, moved his hands, and moved around the room.
At the end of the shooting, the employee tried to return him to the stand, but he pushed him, and Fedor collapsed to the floor. “I’ve never fallen, but there’s a first time for everything,” says Dudorov. Four of them lifted Fedor from the floor. The laboratory staff carefully examined the head - it was where the blow fell; at first glance everything was fine. Dudorov complained: “It’s a pity that you didn’t film it: it would be nice to document this moment for history.”
Moscow. April 13..E.D.O.R shoot with two hands and work on fine motor skills, said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin.
“The robot of the F.E.D.O.R. platform showed two-handed shooting skills. Work is underway on fine motor skills and decision-making algorithms,” the Deputy Prime Minister wrote on Twitter.
At first, he did not specify why “Fedor,” who is being trained for the “position” of a space pilot, needs shooting skills. However, he then explained that “combat robotics is the key to creating intelligent machines.”
“This also applies to aviation and space. Shooting training is a way of teaching a machine to prioritize, instantly, and make decisions. We are not creating a terminator, but artificial intelligence, which will be of great practical importance in a variety of fields,” - wrote Rogozin.
At the end of March, the general designer for manned systems and complexes of Roscosmos, Evgeny Mikrin, announced that the first pilot of the new Russian spacecraft "Federation" during flight tests in 2021 would be the Fedor robot, and two years later (in 2023) a manned flight.
In November 2016, it was reported that RSC Energia specialists will participate in the creation of a robot that can go into space on a new generation manned transport ship (PTS) “Federation”. “The device will be created on the basis of the FEDOR (Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research) robot, the developers are NPO Android Technology and the Advanced Research Foundation,” the corporation’s press service said in a statement.
According to the press service, RSC Energia General Director Vladimir Solntsev decided to form a working group at one of the corporation’s scientific and technical centers to work on the project, which, among other things, will determine the range of applications of the robot. This work will be supervised by RSC Energia General Designer Evgeniy Mikrin.
Since 2009, RSC Energia, with the participation of the Central Scientific Research Institute of Robotics and Technical Cybernetics (CSRI RTK), has been working on the creation of an adaptive programmable robot of a functional-anthropomorphic type. In 2016, the corporation, in cooperation with the Central Research Institute of RTK and the NPO Android Technology, won a competition to carry out development work to create a space robot "Cosmorobot" for promising space objects. “Its trial operation is planned in 2020-2024 as part of the scientific and energy module of the Russian segment of the International Space Station,” the message said. The complex includes a mobile robot, control panels, integration tools and a ground segment, the press service reports.
