[coin clinks]
[motor whirring]
- OH, MAN, I CAN NEVER WIN THESE THINGS.
THE CLAW'S NOT STRONG OR PRECISE ENOUGH
TO GET ME THE PRIZES THAT I WANT.
BUT NASA HAS A ROBOTIC ARM
THAT MAKES THE CRANE GAME A CAKEWALK
AND ON A MUCH BIGGER SCALE.
FIND OUT MORE NEXT ON "REAL WORLD."
WITHOUT ROBOTICS, MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS
OF BUILDING THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION,
REPAIRING SATELLITES IN SPACE,
AND EXPLORING OTHER WORLDS WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE.
ROBOTIC ARMS AND HANDS ARE USED
ON THE SPACE SHUTTLE AND THE SPACE STATION
TO BUILD, REPAIR, INVESTIGATE, AND MORE.
THE SHUTTLE REMOTE MANIPULATOR SYSTEM,
ALSO KNOWN AS CANADARM,
MANEUVERS PAYLOADS FROM THE SHUTTLE BAY OF THE ORBITER
SO THE LOADS CAN BE TRANSFERRED TO THE ISS
OR LAUNCHED INTO ORBIT.
THE ARM ALSO CONTAINS INSTRUMENTS
TO HELP INSPECT THE EXTERIOR OF THE SHUTTLE FOR DAMAGE.
AND ASTRONAUTS CAN BE TETHERED, OR ANCHORED, TO THE ARM
DURING EXTRA-VEHICULAR ACTIVITIES, OR SPACEWALKS.
LET'S SIZE UP THIS GIGANTIC ROBOTIC ARM.
CANADARM WEIGHS A BIT MORE THAN 410 KILOGRAMS
AND IS 15 METERS LONG.
WHEN THE ARM IS ON EARTH,
THE MOTORS ARE UNABLE TO LIFT THE ARM'S OWN WEIGHT.
BUT IN SPACE, THE ROBOTIC HANDS
CAN LIFT A MASSIVE 29,484 KILOGRAMS.
THAT'S A WHOPPING 65,000 POUNDS.
BUT IF YOU THINK THAT'S SOME HEAVY LIFTING,
CHECK OUT THE SRMS'S BIG BROTHER, CANADARM2,
THE REMOTE MANIPULATOR SYSTEM
ON BOARD THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION.
THE EVEN MORE AWESOME CANADARM2
CAN HOLD UP TO 116,000 KILOGRAMS.
THAT'S ALMOST FOUR TIMES AS MUCH AS THE SHUTTLE ARM.
AND CANADARM2 IS SLIGHTLY LONGER,
ABOUT 17.6 METERS LONG.
THE ISS IS ABOUT 109 METERS LONG,
SO A UNIQUE ENGINEERING DESIGN ON CANADARM2
ALLOWS ASTRONAUTS TO REACH
JUST ABOUT EVERY POINT ON THE SPACE STATION.
BUT WAIT. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?
IT'S MADE OUT OF ALUMINUM,
WHICH ISN'T VERY STRETCHY MATERIAL.
I'LL LET OUR ON-ORBIT ASTRONAUT BILL MCARTHUR EXPLAIN.
- THIS IS WHAT OUR ARM LOOKS LIKE.
IT HAS TWO END EFFECTORS,
AND EACH OF THEM HAS THREE JOINTS.
THEY'RE IDENTICAL.
AND THEN IT HAS ONE JOINT IN THE CENTER
FOR A TOTAL OF SEVEN JOINTS.
AND THAT ALLOWS US TO DO SEVERAL THINGS
THAT ARE VERY, VERY INTERESTING.
ONE IS, IT MEANS THAT EITHER ONE OF THE ENDS
CAN BE THE BASE.
BASICALLY, WE ANCHOR THE SSRMS TO ONE LOCATION,
AND THEN USING IT JUST LIKE AN ARM,
WE'RE ABLE TO EXTEND IT, MOVE AROUND,
GRASP OBJECTS, LIFT THEM UP,
REPOSITION THEM,
AND INSTALL THEM IN DIFFERENT LOCATIONS.
NOW, BECAUSE BOTH OF THE END EFFECTORS ARE IDENTICAL,
THE BASE AND THE TIP,
WE CAN ACTUALLY REVERSE THEM,
AND THE TIP CAN BECOME THE BASE,
AND THE BASE CAN BECOME THE TIP.
AND WHAT THAT ALLOWS US TO DO
IS TO MOVE THE ARM TO DIFFERENT LOCATIONS.
AND SO WE COULD HAVE THE ARM IN ONE LOCATION.
WE COULD MOVE IT TO ANOTHER LOCATION,
MAKE THE BASE THE TIP, THE TIP THE BASE,
AND THEN WE COULD MOVE IT AGAIN.
AND THAT WAY, WE'RE ABLE TO ACTUALLY POSITION THE ARM
AT DIFFERENT WORK SITES AROUND THE SPACE STATION.
- COMBINED WITH THE TRACKS ALONG THE LENGTH OF THE STATION,
STRATEGICALLY PLACED GRAPPLE FIXTURES
PUT MOST OF THE ISS WITHIN REACH OF THE LONG ROBOTIC ARM.
NOW, CANADARM2 MAY BE A POWERFUL ROBOTIC INCHWORM,
BUT IT'S NOT AUTONOMOUS.
THAT MEANS IT STILL NEEDS TO BE CONTROLLED BY HUMANS.
AND THIS CONTROLLING IS DONE AT ONE OF THE WORKSTATIONS.
AS YOU CAN SEE, THE WORKSTATION HAS SEVERAL MONITORS
AND INPUT DEVICES--KEYBOARDS AND JOYSTICKS--HOOKED UP,
SO THEY CAN CONTROL THE MOTION OF THE ARM
WITH THE JOYSTICKS AND LAPTOPS
AND KEEP AN EYE ON THEIR WORK WITH THE NUMEROUS MONITORS
MOUNTED ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE ISS
AND CANADARM2 ITSELF.
IT'S KIND OF LIKE A REALLY BIG GAMING RIG
IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT
OR A REALLY BIG CLAW MACHINE,
MAYBE EVEN WITH A LITTLE HELPER ON THE CLAW.
- WELL, GOSH, YOU KNOW, I'VE TALKED A LOT ABOUT,
SORT OF IN GENERAL TERMS, HOW WE OPERATE THIS ARM,
HOW WE--THE IMAGES WE GET.
WELL, WHAT DO WE ACTUALLY DO WITH IT?
WELL, IT IS A ROBOT.
YOU KNOW, ROBOTS ARE DESIGNED
TO HELP PEOPLE DO PRODUCTIVE WORK.
EVERY ELEMENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
EXCEPT THE RUSSIAN ELEMENTS
WERE ASSEMBLED USING ROBOTIC ARMS
EITHER ON BOARD THE SHUTTLE
OR ON BOARD THE SSRMS HERE ON THE SPACE STATION ITSELF.
WE CAN EVEN PUT A SPECIAL FOOT RESTRAINT
ON THE END OF THE ARM,
AND AN ASTRONAUT CAN SLIP HIS FEET
INTO THE FOOT RESTRAINT,
AND THEN WE MOVE THAT ASTRONAUT
TO WHEREVER THE WORK SITE MIGHT BE.
- LEARNING TO USE THESE GIGANTIC ROBOTIC ARMS
TAKES A LITTLE PRACTICE.
ASTRONAUTS SPEND MANY MONTHS LEARNING ABOUT
AND PRACTICING TO WORK WITH ROBOTS IN SPACE.
INSTRUCTORS ON EARTH USE HIGH-TECH SIMULATIONS
AND VIRTUAL REALITY ENVIRONMENTS
TO TEACH THE ASTRONAUTS ALL THEY WILL NEED TO KNOW.
DURING HER FIRST SHUTTLE MISSION,
STS-131 ASTRONAUT DOTTIE METCALF-LINDENBURGER
OPERATED THE SHUTTLE ARM
TO INSPECT THE SPACE SHUTTLE FOR DAMAGE.
OTHER MEMBERS OF THE CREW USED THE SPACE STATION'S CANADARM2
TO MOVE THE EQUIPMENT FROM THE SHUTTLE TO THE STATION.
JUST THINK: THE SCIENCE AND MATH YOU'RE LEARNING TODAY
MAY HELP YOU DESIGN
AN EXPLORATION ROBOT OF THE FUTURE.
YOU CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT NASA ROBOTICS
AND FIND OUT ABOUT ROBOTICS COMPETITIONS
FOR STUDENTS LIKE YOU AT:
BE SURE TO CHECK OUT HOW ROBONAUT 2
WILL BE USED TO HELP OUT ON THE ISS.
RIGHT NOW, I'VE GOT A ROBOT TO PROGRAM.
CATCH YOU NEXT TIME ON "REAL WORLD."