Off-Beat-News
Space robot sent to ISS─── 07:47 Sat, 30 Jun 2018
An experimental robot with an animated cartoon face has been sent to the International Space Station (ISS) on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
BBC reports that the Crew Interactive Mobile Companion, Dubbed Cimon, is intended as "an AI-based assistant for astronauts".
Cimon weighs 5kg but in zero gravity it will float move around thanks to 14 internal fans. It is an attempt to find out whether robots and astronauts can collaborate.
To this end, Cimon is equipped with microphones and cameras that help it recognise Alexander Gerst, the German astronaut with whom it will work.
Cimon, which speaks English, was developed by Airbus and IBM for the German national space agency, DLR.
On 13 December Cimon is scheduled to return to Earth.
BBC
