Kirobo

Robot astronaut Kirobo sets two Guinness World Records titles .

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A robot that acts as a friend for lonely astronauts in space has today been honoured with two Guinness World Records titles.
Kirobo, a small android able to have conversations in Japanese, has set records for First Companion Robot in Space and Highest altitude for a robot to have a conversation following an 18-month stay onboard the International Space Station.
Measuring 34 cm tall and weighing 1 kg, Kirobo can recognise faces, and has a sophisticated voice recognition system.
Able to stabilise itself in zero-gravity conditions, its onboard voice synthesis coupled with a library of pre-set gestures and an advanced language processing system allows it to speak in an uncannily natural manner.
The robot astronaut was developed as part of a five-year, joint research project carried out in collaboration between advertising agency Dentsu, the University of Tokyo’s Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, Robo Garage, Toyota Motor Corporation, and JAXA the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
One of the project’s main aims was to test if a robot could provide psychological support to a human subject experiencing severe loneliness – such as an astronaut during an extended stay in space – by acting as their conversational partner.
KIROBO left earth via a HIIB rocket on 4 August 2013, with the mission to serve as a companion robot to the astronaut, Koichi Wakata.
After arriving at the ISS on the 10th, , KIROBO gave its first speech eleven days later, declaring:“On August 21, 2013, a robot took one small step toward a brighter future for all.”
The humanoid went on to achieve the highest altitude for a robot to have a conversation record on 7 December 2013 at an altitude of 414.2 kilometers above sea level after succeeding in having multiple meaningful conversations with Wakata.
On February 10, Kirobo came safely back to Earth aboard SpaceX’s CRS-5 Dragon cargo supply spacecraft which splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off California, arriving back in Japan on March 12.
Kirobo’s first words after returning home were: “From up above, the Earth glowed like a blue LED.”
To mark the project’s achievements Erika Ogawa, Erika Ogawa vice president of Guinness World Records Japan, and official adjudicator Aya McMillan today presented official GWR certificates to the team behind Kirobo during an event at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo.
Looking back over the robot’s history-making stay in space, Yorichika Nishijima, Kirobo’s Communications Designer told TNW “The project launched five years ago, when nobody believed in human beings and robots co-existing. From that perspective we wanted to send it into space to show that robots and human beings… can go into a new era. It’s a sort of symbolic project so people can understand how people can interact with robots”.

Kirobo is world’s first talking robot sent into space.

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Japan has launched the world’s first talking robot into space to serve as companion to astronaut Kochi Wakata who will begin his mission in November.

The android took off from the island of Tanegashima in an unmanned rocket also carrying supplies for crew onboard the International Space Station (ISS).

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Measuring 34cm (13 inches), Kirobo is due to arrive at the ISS on 9 August.

It is part of a study to see how machines can lend emotional support to people isolated over long periods.

The launch of the H-2B rocket was broadcast online by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa).

The unmanned rocket is also carrying drinking water, food, clothing and work supplies to the six permanent crew members based at the ISS.

‘Giant leap’

Kirobo’s name derives from the Japanese words for “hope” and “robot”.

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The small android weighs about 1kg (2.2 pounds) and has a wide range of physical motion. Its design was inspired by the legendary animation character Astro Boy.

Kirobo has been programmed to communicate in Japanese and keep records of its conversations with Mr Wakata who will take over as commander of the ISS later this year.

In addition, it is expected to relay messages from the control room to the astronaut.

“Kirobo will remember Mr Wakata’s face so it can recognise him when they reunite up in space,” the robot’s developer, Tomotaka Takahashi said.

“I wish for this robot to function as a mediator between a person and machine, or a person and the Internet, and sometimes even between people.”

The biggest challenge was to make the android compatible with space, Mr Takahashi added.

Dozens of tests were carried out over nine months to ensure Kirobo’s reliability.

Kirobo has a twin robot on Earth called Mirata, which will monitor any problems its electronic counterpart may experience in space.

“It’s one small step for me, a giant leap for robots,” Mirata said of the mission last month.

The endeavour is a joint project between Mr Takahashi, car producer Toyota and advertising company Dentsu.

Source: BBC