MIT's SPHERES Robots Set To Repair Broken Satellites & Spacecrafts

Researchers are planning to deploy robots to take care of examining and repairing broken satellites and spacecrafts in space. The robots will be programmed to act together as a team by communicating with each other. For this, the team at MIT’s Space Systems Laboratory (SSL) has started developing the required software, testing of which is being performed on robotic platforms called SPHERES (Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, and Reorient Experimental Satellites).

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A rendering of the VERTIGO (Visual Estimation and Relative Tracking for Inspection of Generic Objects) system that researchers plan on deploying on SPHERES robots.

These volleyball-sized droids are now on board the International Space Station (ISS). Within ISS, they hover in midair (just like they would in the outer space) and are now set to get two hardware updates namely VERTIGO and RINGS. The former is a two-camera setup that can be mounted at the front of SPHERE. The data from these cameras can be used to develop vision-based navigation. It can be used to differentiate between two surfaces and come up with a proper navigation route.

RINGS is a very important feature. SPHERES is fitted with large electromagnetic rings, that act as large magnets to cause the attraction and repulsion between two robots - helping the robots to come into a precise formation or even power the robots wirelessly. The robot is being tested in the ISS environment, but it should be able to work in the outer space environment too. Some changes in the robot might be necessary, and that can be implemented as a combination of new hardware and software. It should not only give the robots the responsibility to repair damaged ones but also build new ones, allowing ISS to have efficient automation for building and maintenance.

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