Posted on 04/07/2019 1:48:31 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Japan's space agency wants to create a moon base with the help of robots that can work autonomously, with little human supervision.
The project, which has racked up three years of research so far, is a collaboration between the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the construction company Kajima Corp., and three Japanese universities: Shibaura Institute of Technology, The University of Electro-Communications and Kyoto University.
Recently, the collaboration did an experiment on automated construction at the Kajima Seisho Experiment Site in Odawara (central Japan).
A 7-ton autonomous backhoe went through its paces at the site, going through procedures such as driving a specified distance and repeating routine operations, JAXA officials said in a statement. Operations that required more fine handling were performed with a human, by remote control.
"[The backhoe] has been modified with onboard survey instruments and an automatic operation control console. The instruments that the tractor and backhoe are installed with autonomously measure [the backhoe's] position and direction ... making it both remotely and automatically operable," JAXA officials said.
"The operational process has shown feasibility of the unmanned technologies to build a lunar base," they added.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Yeah but we got the Tranny surgery locked up and will hold that market by creating a commanding supply of customers through school indoctrination.
I have been suggesting doing this for years. The one sticking point is that optimally the robots are nuclear powered. Otherwise it is a very sensible approach.
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