TOKYO: In a world first, Japan is set to
send a talking robot-astronaut to the International Space Station to conduct
the first conversation between a human and a robot in outer space.
Kirobo, the robot astronaut, is
scheduled to be launched from the Tanegashima Space Center, located in
southwestern Japan's Kagoshima Prefecture, aboard the Kounotori 4 cargo
spacecraft to ISS on August 4.
Named after a combination of the
Japanese word kibo, or "hope", and the word "robot", the
Kirobo project is part of an experiment that will see the first human-robot
conversation held in space, the 'Japan Daily Press' reported.
Kirobo is about 34 centimetres tall and
weighs about one kilogramme, which makes it smaller than most robots that go
into space.
The robot has already undergone several
pre-launch tests, including simulations with zero gravity, the report said.
During one of the first demonstrations,
the robot's developers asked Kirobo what its dream was. It replied that it
"hoped to create a future where humans and robots live together and get
along."
Kirobo, the talking robot, was jointly
developed by the University of Tokyo, Toyota, and Dentsu Inc.
Source: Times of India article
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