Russia to send robots to ISS as passengers/astronauts rather than cargo

I don't think it's anything to worry about; it's really just a publicity stunt. Any robot with appropriate manipulators could be programmed to fire handguns as easily as any other task.
 
Hmm. I guess my 1st post does seem like I am alarmed about this. forgot the ":LOL:"
 
This sounds like a great way to finally destroy the ISS. For some odd reason, I thought the ISS was a touch more important than something you could risk getting damaged by run-amok hardware. I'm not saying the robots will 'go all terminator' when up there, just simply you can't risk software and hardware glitches and failures in such a fragile environment.

K2
 
But the entire space station is a mass of complex hardware and software already. There are huge amounts of software in particular where a 'glitch' could already be potentially fatal. Just because this is on a freestanding robot is not that significant.

Think about the robotic arm on the now defunct space shuttle. What if that had developed a software glitch?
 
@Vertigo ; however, those hardware and software issues don't include parts moving without hard limits (like say the robot extends its arm, then spins around at maximum speed). Regarding the shuttle's robotic arm, I suppose it could result in similar catastrophic damage (depending upon its potential limits), yet, that was then, this is now. More so, that was outside the vehicle's living space, not inside.

IOW, I personally do not feel that it is worth the risk simply to pull a publicity stunt.

K2
 
I hear what you are saying but still don't think it's a big risk. The FEDOR robot has been around for a little while now and should be pretty well debugged. It isn't being developed just for this ISS.

I think it's actually a really interesting development; one of the goals for this robot is to be used to build a colony on the moon and may will be one of the safest ways to do that job.
 
About the 'robotic' arm, I think it is no more robotic than the remote controlled robots in ROBOT WARS. Very likely, it could move on its own if a short circuit developed between its [the part the astro/cosmonaut holds, etc.] & the [whatever you call the part that is controlled] It might have some type of feedback so it does not crush whatever it holds, but those electronics are minimal & do not compare to an actual humanoid robot with some degree of autonomy. When the prosecutor short circuited Adam Link's brain (Outer Limits I, Robot), he went haywire. Still, I would imagine that in such an environment, they would not use anything that had not been thoroughly tested.

On the other hand, a robot makes a very nice sleeper agent. As depicted in Telefon, the guy was just living a boring life, until he heard that line from that poem. :giggle:
 
I just saw on the news that an astronaut stuck his finger in a hole in the ISS to prevent air escaping (kind of reminds me of the story of the dutch boy sticking his finger in a leaking dyke). I wonder if a robot would have the gumption to do this? Then again, it wouldn't need an atmosphere in the first place:)
 
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