WORLDTECHCaltech robot builds a space truss without astronauts in first demo
A robotic truss builder designed and built by Caltech researchers has assembled a structure in space without help from astronauts, according to a report by Phys.org. The demonstration is described as the first of its kind.
How the autonomous builder works
The machine is an autonomous manipulator. It takes struts and joints from dispensers placed nearby and uses them to build a perimeter truss.
Rather than assembling a single piece, the robot repeatedly produces identical sections, known as bays, so that the structure grows one unit at a time.
Part of a DARPA research program
The truss builder is part of DARPA's Novel Orbital and Moon Manufacturing, Materials, and Mass-efficient Design program, known as NOM4D.
The program's aim, as far as the verified facts describe it, is to explore how structures might be manufactured in orbit and on the Moon rather than launched fully assembled.
Open questions
- How large a structure can the builder assemble before it needs further support?
- What further demonstrations are planned after this first test?