Doggy for astronauts

Boudreaux, officially called the Extra Vehicular Activity Robotic Assistant, is a kind of robot dog that might accompany astronauts to explore the Moon and Mars.

Boudreaux is nearly autonomous, it can plan a route for itself, responds to voice commands and tells the astronauts where it is.

Its stereovision cameras relay pics of the astronauts back to a control centre, and its arm can collect rock samples or dropped tools, tasks that are tricky for an astronaut wearing a bulky space suit. On a long mission, the robotic dog would also be a lighter load for a spacecraft than a human with accompanying gear.

Boudreaux was developped by the robotics team at Johnson Space Center, better known for Robonaut, a humanoid robot designed for space walks that was unveiled in 2000.

Geology graduate students who tested the robot quickly began to treat it just like a canine companion.
I believed that astronauts had the sleekest gadgets. No way, José! I prefer the Aibo robot dog for us mere Terrestrians.

From Nature, via Technovelgy.

Related: Robot dogs turn activists, Dog Lab, roblog.