Freelancers from the Freelancers.com platform now have a chance to join a team that will work with NASA to put a new robot on ISS. As of January 14, the website and the agency have joined hands to form a team to design concepts for a robotic arm for the Astobee free-flying robot. This robot will be replacing the SPHERES bot currently on the International Space Station.
New ISS Astrobee Robot Will Be Made from Crowdsourced Parts from 17 Million Freelancers
Freelancers from all over the world are collaborating to gather the parts to build the robotic arm. The agency specifically is recruiting members of Freelaners.com to make the Astrobee free-flyer robot. This bot will be able to move around the ISS without interrupting any other activity. NASA is planning on making this free-flyer a dutiful one, capable of carrying out various repetitive tasks for short or longer times. It will also feature a camera to film events such as conversations between astronauts and children.
Astrobee will be the first to have a lightweight robotic arm for perching and interacting with other objects at the International Space Station. NASA has their own design of the arm, but they’re encouraging outside teams to bring in their own.
Freelancer.com and NASA Campaign Is Split in Three Phases
Currently, NASA and Freelancers.com are taking registrations. From the total number of freelancers registered, 30 will be chosen to carry out the first task in the competition. The second phase will revolve around these 30 freelancers submitting designs for the architecture of the robotic arm.
The system’s architecture will describe every single element that makes up the arm. This can vary from candidate to candidate. NASA is looking for ideas that make up entirely new and creative setups that are also highly efficient. The best design will be going to work at the International Space Station as soon as the robot is complete
After these designs have been detailed and reviewed by NASA, the agency will crowdsource the parts in them. This is a fresh approach to funding because it’ll be available to the 17 million members of Freelancers.com but also the mass public. This really does mean that only the most engaging design will take the cake.
NASA Encourages Outside Innovation for International Space Station
On the competition, Freelancer.com CEO Matt Barrie expressed that both parties have seen a lot of success through crowdfunding. This specific campaign will show the true talent of the members of Freelancer.com. Jason Crusan, Director of Advanced Exploration Systems and lead of the Center for Excellence for Collaborative Innovation at NASA, added that NASA is making full use of open innovation to bring in new concepts to the designs and take them to ISS.
This isn’t the first time that NASA and Freelancer.com have partnered up, and it surely can’t be the last. May the best freelancer win!
