Google’s Project Tango smartphone to power NASA robots in space
The experimental Android-running smartphone will assist NASA astronauts with all kinds of tasks.
Project Tango, which is an experimental smartphone with 3D sensors, is touted to be sent to space with NASA astronauts to assist them. The smartphone is being developed by Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP). The team will send a prototype inside the International Space Station.
The smartphone features a 5-inch display and comes with 3D-tracking and mapping abilities through its camera. It will be attached to a robot on a robotic platform called the NASA spheres which will have an ability to navigate the station.
Zach Moratta, a research engineer at NASA Ames Research Center says, “Think about having a free-flying robot that can fly around inside a space station, perhaps equipped with some type of future smartphone.” ATAP has been working with the NASA Ames researchers for more than a year now. Project Tango and NASA have also tested the concept recently as well. The experiment was carried out in a zero-gravity flight that left from Texas.
Google ATAP released a video showcasing the concepts and goals of the mission. The description of the video says:
Since the summer of 2013, the Project Tango team has been working closely with a team at the NASA Ames Research Center. The goal: to integrate a Project Tango prototype onto a robotic platform, called SPHERES, that flies inside the International Space Station. The SPHERES program aims to develop zero-gravity autonomous platforms that could act as robotic assistants for astronauts or perform maintenance activities independently on station. The 3D-tracking and mapping capabilities of Project Tango would allow SPHERES to reconstruct a 3D-map of the space station and, for the first time in history, enable autonomous navigation of a floating robotic platform 230 miles above the surface of the earth.
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Google ATAP, which is a part of Google’s Motorola Division, is also working on the modular concept phone called Project Ara.
Google says that the technology will be launched into orbit this summer.