Story By: Anastasia Smirnova, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
CEN/@FEDOR37516789
Russia’s first humanoid robot Fedor has snubbed ‘his’ Indian female counterpart Vyommitra after ‘her’ recent unveiling, saying that after seeing her he is “convinced it is better to go into space on my own”.
The life-sized Skybot F-850 robot, that has its own Twitter account to communicate with his fans, was launched into orbit to assist astronauts on board the International Space Station (ISS) last year.
The Russian humanoid robot, that replicates movements of a remote operator and can perform some actions autonomously, was recently asked to comment on its Indian counterpart Vyommitra, a female spacefaring robot that was developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation.
Vyommitra was unveiled on 20th January and ‘she’ will assist Indian astronauts in space as well as take part in two unmanned Gaganyaan flights scheduled for December.
She can speak Hindi and English and perform technical commands such as environment control and life support functions as well as inform about changes in environmental air pressure.
However, despite Vyommitra’s remarkable features, Fedor appears unimpressed by his Indian counterpart.
He posted on his Twitter account: “I have taken a look at the work of the Indian engineers. Once again, I am convinced that it is better to go into space on my own (without anyone around).”
The Russian humanoid robot was originally designed for rescue operations but later its creators decided to expand its features to space missions. It was initially named Avatar, but in 2017 it was renamed Fedor.
In the video clip, the humanoid assistant is seen holding a towel in what might be a reference to ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’.
According to Douglas Adams’ science-fiction comedy classic, “a towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have.”
The footage also shows Fedor holding a drill which it then hands to an astronaut. The robot was sent into space to learn new skills so that it and others like it can carry out dangerous operations instead of astronauts, such as space walks.
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