Meet ‘Vyomamitra’, The Talking Half-Humanoid Robot ISRO Is Sending To Space

As children, we’ve seen the fictional space ranger Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story exclaim, “To infinity and beyond” but as adults, we’re witnessing the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) making it a reality. Under the leadership of Chairman Kailasavadivoo Sivan, the lunar mission Chandrayaan 2 was completed successfully and now work for Gaganyaan (India’s maiden human spaceflight mission) is underway.

While four Indian Air Force pilots will be undergoing training for the manned mission, there are to be two unmanned missions in December 2020 and July 2021. These test flights will have robots instead of real astronauts, reports The Hindu

On January 22, the half-humanoid who will embark on this journey was unveiled at a three-day symposium in Bengaluru titled ‘Human Spaceflight and Exploration: Present Challenges and Future Trends’. Financial Express quoted the ISRO Chairman saying,

“It will be simulating exactly the human functions there (in space). It will check whether the system is right. This will be very useful to simulate as if a human is flying.”

Meet Vyomamitra, whose name is derived from the Sanskrit words Vyoma (Space) and Mitra (Friend).

Hindustan Times quoted the robot saying,

“Hello everyone. I am Vyomamitra, the prototype of the half-humanoid, been made for the first unmanned Gaganyaan mission. I can monitor through module parameters, alert you and perform life support operations. I can perform activities like switch panel operations.”

The Indian Express quoted an ISRO scientist saying,

“She can also operate switches, and do other activities like replacing carbon-dioxide canisters in case of emergency. Her ability to have seamless interactions with astronauts and ground operations with the help of voice command is another major highlight of this half-humanoid.”

He further revealed that Vyomamitra is a half-humanoid as she has no legs. We’re super excited to see what other features get added to the robot for this historic space experiment.

Cover Image Source – left, right

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