The dream team of General Motors and NASA have finally figured out a way to turn sexbot technology into something useful for everyone, not just lonely perverts.  When the Space Shuttle Discovery takes off on its final mission, the astronauts aboard will have a robotic companion, the Robonaut 2!  It’s basically a humanoid android with a head, torso, and two working arms with fingers.  It’s designed basically to see just how capable such a robot can be in a weightless environment, but it’s also GM’s prototype for a humanoid robot capable of handling delicate material on earth.

Robonaut 2 kind of kills two birds with one stone that way.  NASA has been increasingly thinking outside the box when it comes to unmanned space flight, and GM has been looking for a way to increase automation on its lines.  This combined usefulness, with Earth and space-based applications, is something both NASA and GM believe is crucial to developing interest in science, technology, engineering, and math, or STEM, classes in school.

Of course, while NASA sees Robbie the Robot, all I can see is HAL 9000, The Terminator, and Daleks roaming the streets, killing indiscriminately.   “Robonaut 2, ready to kill all humans!”  Screaming, fire, blood splashed on its golden metal skull… it’s a robot apocalypse, all right!

Image:  MSNBC

Tags: Robonaut 2, GM, General Motors, NASA, robot astronaut, robot in space, space robots, Space Shuttle Discovery, humanoid android, androids

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