Humanoid Robot May Teach Astronauts on the International Space Station (VIDEO)

First Posted: Sep 07, 2015 03:54 PM EDT

An adorable robot may be becoming a bit more useful on the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Nao, which is the only permanent members on the ISS, may be given an "autobiographical memory," which allows it to pass on knowledge learned from humans to other, less knowledgeable humans.

Human culture largely stems from knowledge acquired through society's shared experience. Cultural transmission enables new members of society to quickly learn from this accumulated experience. In order for a robot to understand cooperative behavior, researchers developed a system which involves a human teaching the Nao robot new actions through physical demonstration, visual imitation or voice command. These actions can then be stored in the robot's memory and transmitted to other humans.

To test the robot, the researchers imagined a scenario where an electronic card was damaged. Nao played the role of the scientist's assistant by following his directions, bringing or holding parts of the card during repair. If this same failure happens again, the robot can then show someone else how to repair the card and help with it.

The results demonstrate the feasibility of the system. Not only that, but they show how this robot could be a huge part of a potential solution for the transfer of knowledge. Because the ISS crew changes out every few months, this robot could represent a way to transfer information to other crews.

Want to learn more? Check out the video below, courtesy of YouTube.