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Toyota’s Space Robot Is Back on Earth

On December 6th 2013, human kind reached another milestone, if you will, by having the first conversation with a robot in space. Can’t really tell why speaking to a machine in space is an improvement to us, but they’ve done it and Kirobo, the little robot, is back on Earth to tell the story.
Kirobo on the ISS 4 photos
Photo: Toyota
Kirobo on the ISSCargo capsule being recoveredCargo capsule landing
Created by Toyota, RCAST and Robo Garage, the 34 cm (13.4 inch) tall robot was onboard a supply craft that recently entered back in atmosphere and parachuted into the Pacific Ocean.

Kirobo was launched into space on August 4th 2013 from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan. As it reached the International Space Station (ISS), the robot’s first words were “On August 21 2013, a robot took one small step towards a brighter future for all.” (funny how we ended up quoting a robot, isn’t it?)

Four months later, JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata arrived at the ISS and had a conversation with the little guy there, marking the first one in the history. Kirobo’s last message from up there was recorded in August last year, after which he was shut down and readied for the trip back.

Next, the tiny robot will be part of a debriefing session taking place in Japan in late March so the scientists can collect the data, analyze it and discover how it can be used to improve our life. Toyota hopes to use the voice and face recognition modules in its cars and personal robotic assistance products.

We’re eager to know why Toyota had to send speech recognition modules up in space to test them if we’re going to use the technology in our cars down here. Is it only because they needed to attract attention with all the fuss, or is the company planing to build personal X-wing fighters with little R2-D2s in them?
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