These two NASA robots, with assistance from engineers Iok Wong and Kyle Doyle, are working together to assemble pieces of a truss segment like a big Erector set.
The team successfully conducted ground testing components of the Commercial Infrastructure for Robotic Assembly and Services (CIRAS) project March 22 at the Structures and Materials Test Laboratory at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.
Strut Assembly, Manufacturing, Utility & Robotic Aid (SAMURAI) passes struts to NASA Intelligent Jigging and Assembly Robot (NINJAR), which positions and holds the struts into a perfectly aligned square bay truss for the future robotic welder to permanently secure in place. In orbit, these joints will be secured by an electron beam welder.
The project, aimed at advancing technologies to build large structures in space, is being conducted in collaboration with industry partner Orbital ATK of Dulles, Virginia. CIRAS is a part of the In-Space Robotic Manufacturing and Assembly project portfolio, managed by NASA’s Technology Demonstration Missions Program and sponsored by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.
Image Credit: NASA/David C. Bowman