A talking robot made by the Japanese Toyota was developed, at the beginning of August to the International Space Station to be transported. The small robot, Kirobo is designed to be able to converse with people.
Kirobo is a combination of the Japanese word for hope, kibo and robot. The little robot was by Toyota in collaboration with, among others, the university of Tokyo and Robo Garage developed. Kirobo is only 34 centimeters tall and weighs about a kilo. For physical activities the robot is not developed: Kirobo have conversations, deal with the astronauts of the International Space Station. This is Kirobo is equipped with stemherkenningssoftware, a camera for face detection: the robot must be capable of natural language processing and emotion recognition.
On August 4, must Kirobo per vrachtraket to the ISS to be transported and shall, in the Japanese module, Kibo called, will be delivered. Since the language of instruction of the robot in Japanese, Kirobo, to december to wait for his first conversation: the Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata will be only in november to the ISS. Kirobo will then have a year in the ISS stay: around december of 2014 is the return flight scheduled. In preparation for his zero gravity stay at the ISS, Kirobo tests during parabolic flights undergo. Mirata, a second, similar robot which, however, is not designed to be used with weightlessness, remains on the earth so that technicians of any problems easier to solve.
Although Kirobo no actual contribution in the ISS is expected, say the makers of the robot that Kirobo an ambassadorial role to fulfill. They hope that Kirobo will demonstrate that natural interactions between robots and people in the future. That would be especially for robots working in and around the house used to be of importance.
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