The presentations were good. It's funny though. They could have used a laser pointer... Peculiar, for such a high-tech company. Yummy cookies and beverages. A nice welcome from the MDA Robotics staff.
Space station assembly may not have been possible without robot arms.
Hubble Space Telescope repair may not have been possible without robot arms.
Many other interesting tidbits were disseminated. Robotic arms can be used in nuclear reactors. A Canadian end-effector is used on the Japanese Kibo laboratory arm. MDA bought the US company which built the arm on the Phoenix lander. Robotic arms (made without ferrous metals) are being used in MRI machines. And robotic arms are used in some medical procedures. They can cancel out the tremors made by the human surgeon...
The tour through the labs? Incredible!
First stop for group B was the rover lab! We got within inches of a prototype rover which they were using to evaluate the suspension and transport. This rover has metal wheels on legs which are also articulated. So it is able to tackle objects as high as 25 cm as well as steep inclines.
We moved to the computer vision lab. Big huge blacked out room with scaled models of spacecraft, hatches, etc. and big robots (like those used in car factories). Overhead was a frame or rails not unlike at a band concert. The MDA lighting system consisted however of one light. It could be programmed to move so to simulate orbital solar lighting (i.e. rapidly moving and fading or growing). Further back in the room was a vented box. It was used to mimic full, intense sun light! The technician then showed us these special squares covered in patterns of reflective material. The vision system could recognise these squares from various distances and angles. I got to hold one of the small squares while he demonstrated you could real-time block a portion of the coded pattern and the system would still spot it.
Finally, we were escorted to a clean room. First, however, we had to scrub and vacuum our shoes, don hair nets and white lab coats, and walk on flypaper. Then we excitedly entered a large space with lots of shiny equipment, exotic tools, rigs, and jigs. We got to see a prototype arm with the wrist manipulator, up real close. From "the stonehenge" frame we saw the wrist manipulator used during the boom extension tests. We also got very close to end-effectors, grapples, and power-and-data mechanisms. Wow!
We returned to the presentation room for a final talk on the Mars lander Phoenix.
On leaving, they handed out a "gift bag" with a printed folder, some large photographs, a shuttle mission sticker (missing from my pack), and a lovely Phoenix pin (two in my pack) with the fiery logo. Very generous! Thank you, MDA!
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