NASA details Johnson robotics team’s work on tasks for future lunar crews
The 16-member team is testing robots for cargo handling, maintenance and other work in simulated space settings, while NASA looks toward human-supervised missions on the Moon.
NASA’s Johnson Space Center has detailed how its 16-member Dexterous Robotics Team is testing robots for work that could support astronauts on future missions. In a report published Monday, the agency described ground-based demonstrations of cargo handling and equipment inspection at its iMETRO facility. The work matters because NASA wants robots to help crews with routine and potentially risky tasks, although the reported tests do not establish that those capabilities are ready for use on the Moon.
The Houston team focuses on machines that can perform tasks people do with their hands. Its lead, Shaun Azimi, said the aim is to make human exploration safer and more sustainable, with robots working alongside explorers. The group sits within Johnson’s Robotic System Technology Branch, which also develops mobility systems such as unmanned planetary rovers.
A test setting for human-supervised work
NASA describes the Integrated Mobile Evaluation Testbed for Robotics Operations, or iMETRO, as a place where agency programs and outside partners can adapt terrestrial robotics for human-supervised space exploration. Its proposed uses include logistics, maintenance and scientific research. The facility combines software and simulations with space vehicle and habitat mockups, robots and an outdoor rock yard, allowing teams to test either complete machines or individual components.
Azimi said the setting helps technology developers see the tasks NASA needs done and brings them together with people designing habitats and rovers. That exchange can affect both sides of a design: robot builders learn about the space they must work in, while habitat designers learn what a robot can perceive and handle. Azimi suggested that larger handles or better lighting might also make equipment easier for people to use.
What the robots have demonstrated
One iMETRO test involved software from PickNik that enabled a robotic arm to recognize a spacecraft hatch, turn its latch, grasp the handle and open the door, according to NASA. The arm then transferred cargo bags between the hatch and a bin. NASA’s earlier account says the work received funding through its Small Business Innovation Research program. These were tests at Johnson, rather than cargo operations on a lunar mission.
PickNik’s own case study gives more detail about the development setting. It describes a UR10e arm operating along a rail, with simulated and physical tests of cargo transfers and interactions with hatch doors and storage benches. The company characterizes some operations as semi-autonomous and identifies MoveIt Pro, its commercial platform built on the open-source MoveIt project, as the software used to develop robot behaviors and motion plans.
The facility has also supported a NASA intern’s work with a commercial robotic arm and camera. According to NASA, the intern developed and tested software to inspect and maintain a cold-stowage freezer like those aboard the International Space Station. The agency reported this as another development and test example, without providing performance figures or a date for operational use.
Experience from earlier robots
The current team builds on work involving Robonaut 2 and Valkyrie. NASA says Robonaut 2 took part in robotics technology demonstrations aboard the space station for seven years, while Valkyrie was its first bipedal humanoid robot. The team broadly divides its work between mechatronics and software, though members often have experience across electronics, mechanics, simulations and analysis.
Earlier technical records show the range of tasks explored with Valkyrie. A NASA report published in 2022 describes a virtual-reality control interface with options to navigate to a waypoint, use joystick velocity commands or place footsteps manually. A separate NASA record published in 2024 describes a demonstration using external sensors and an automated tool grasp in a room-inspection scenario. Those records document demonstrations, rather than a deployed lunar robot.
The route toward future missions
NASA says the team supports agency projects connected to a sustained human presence on the Moon. Azimi describes its work as a mix of research and development and applied technology. The agency also says the team works with outside partners facing difficult environments on Earth, including an oil and gas company interested in robotics for harsher settings and riskier tasks.
The near-term emphasis is technology for the lunar surface, Azimi said, while some of the same work could apply to future Mars missions. NASA also mentioned a forthcoming public challenge for Mars exploration ideas, without giving a launch date or terms. Its latest account does not quantify the robots’ reliability or readiness for flight, leaving the transition from ground demonstrations to mission use an open question.
Sources and context
- Reliable Robots: Meet Johnson’s Dexterous Robotics TeamNASA
- NASA Equips Astronauts, Industry with Robotic IntelligenceNASA Spinoff
- Robotic Manipulation for Autonomous Lunar Operations at NASAPickNik
- Cockpit Interface for Locomotion and Manipulation Control of the NASA Valkyrie Humanoid in Virtual Reality (VR)NASA Technical Reports Server
- Valkyrie Robot Capability Demonstration: Thermal Camera and Body Stored Hand-Tool UsageNASA Technical Reports Server
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