Astronauts also will attach a Canadian-built robotic arm system that will assist astronauts during space walks and perform other tasks.
The robotic arm is a vital instrument on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. It will dig into the icy soil and bring samples back to the science deck of the spacecraft for analysis.
The findings may one day be used to improve the experience of wearing a prosthetic limb, or it could be used to help people with paralysis learn to operate robotic arms.
Its 10 science instruments include two for ingesting and analyzing samples of powdered rock that the rover's robotic arm collects.
This might have important bearing on the development of advanced prostheses, where the patient can experience and control an extra robotic arm, "said Mr." Guterstam.
Toyota recently demoed a wheelchair controlled with brainwaves, and University of Utah researchers have created a wireless brain transmitter that allows monkeys to control robotic arms.
Spacecraft Technician Billy Jones inspects the Phoenix Mars Lander robotic arm in 2006.
Matrix codes on the backs of plates keep track of how long a sushi portion has been circulating on conveyor belts; a small robotic arm disposes of any that have been out too long.
Machines are used where they're worth it: at another station, one tests the power output of finished cells with a flash of light before robotic arms place them into bins according to performance.
They spent several hours outside the International Space Station, conducted simulated repairs while perched at the extended end of a robotic arm.
Up close, Chihara's robotic arm movements give her away, as do her eyes, which blink onlyhalfway.
Things were not looking so good for alien life in 1976, after the Viking I spacecraft landed on Mars, stretched out its robotic arm, and gathered up a fist-size pile of red dirt for chemical testing.
The new tools we're developing at JPL will evolve and hopefully someday wind up bolted to the side of a spacecraft or strapped to the end of a robotic arm.
Foot controls are positioned on today's tire changers for easy access, while robotic arms and other features provide extra power and leverage.
In the grasp of the International Space Station's Canadarm2 robotic arm, the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module is placed back in Discovery's payload bay.
A spare latching end effector for the station's robotic arm, and a spare trailing umbilical system for the rail car that the arm travels on.
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