Project Tango, which is an experimental smartphone with 3D sensors, is
touted to be sent to space with NASA astronauts to assist them. The
smartphone is being developed by Google's Advanced Technology and
Projects (ATAP). The team will send a prototype inside the International
Space Station.The smartphone features a 5-inch display and comes with 3D-tracking and
mapping abilities through its camera.
It will be attached to a robot on a
robotic platform called the NASA spheres which will have an ability to
navigate the station. Zach Moratta, a research engineer at NASA Ames Research Center says,
"Think about having a free-flying robot that can fly around inside a
space station, perhaps equipped with some type of future smartphone."
ATAP has been working with the NASA Ames researchers for more than a
year now. Project Tango and NASA have also tested the concept recently
as well.
The experiment was carried out in a zero-gravity flight that
left from Texas.Google ATAP released a video showcasing the concepts and goals of the mission. The description of the video says:
Since the summer of 2013, the Project Tango team has been working
closely with a team at the NASA Ames Research Center. The goal: to
integrate a Project Tango prototype onto a robotic platform, called
SPHERES, that flies inside the International Space Station. The SPHERES
program aims to develop zero-gravity autonomous platforms that could act
as robotic assistants for astronauts or perform maintenance activities
independently on station. The 3D-tracking and mapping capabilities of
Project Tango would allow SPHERES to reconstruct a 3D-map of the space
station and, for the first time in history, enable autonomous navigation
of a floating robotic platform 230 miles above the surface of the
earth.
