Mar 202012
 

A 1969 concept from the Martin Marietta Corporation for a teleoperated construction robot. The robot was not fly-floating, but instead was to be mounted to the end of a “serpentuator.” This was a long robotic arm akin to the Canadarm, but with more joints. This was to support the Apollo Applications Program, which eventually transformed into Skylab.

The robot was vaguely anthropomorphic, with a TV camera for a “head” and two arms with manipulators hands. The grippers featured piezoelectric sensors which would provide feedback regarding grip pressure. A second camera was fixed to the robot’s “chest,” and what might be regarded as legs featured simple rings at the end which would latch onto studs on the object being worked on.

The basic concept has survived to the present, although the more modern designs tend to looks rather less blocky.

 Posted by at 11:44 am