Russian Robotic Supply Ship Docks at Space Station

An unmanned Russian supply ship arrived at the International Space Station Sunday (April 22) carrying tons of fresh supplies in an Earth Day delivery for the orbiting lab's crew.

The robotic Progress 47 cargo ship docked with the space station at 10:39 a.m. EDT (1439 GMT), ending a two-day flight that began with an eye-catching launch. The two spacecraft were sailing 249 miles (400 kilometers) over northern China, just south of the Mongolia border, when Progress 47 parked itself at the orbiting lab.

"Congratulations on a successful automatic docking," flight controllers in Russia's Mission Control Center in Moscow radioed the station crew in Russian.

The Progress supply ship is filled with more than 2.8 tons of food, equipment and other gear for the six-man crew living aboard the space station. Its arrival, which occurred on Earth Day by coincidence, comes just days after the departure of its predecessor Progress 46 from the station, and a week before the much-anticipated launch the first private U.S. cargo ship to the orbiting lab — the robotic Dragon capsule built by California-based SpaceX. Dragon is slated to launch on April 30.

With the retirement of NASA's space shuttle fleet last year, the space agency is dependent on Russia's Progress vehicles and similar robotic space trucks launched by Japan and Europe to ferry its supplies to the station. The Dragon capsule will be the first of two private U.S. spacecraft to take on the job with it begins operational flights.

Russia's Progress space cargo trucks are similar in appearance to the three-module Soyuz vehicles used to ferry crews to and from the International Space Station. Both vehicles have a propulsion module and orbital module, but the progress carries a fuel-laden module for the station's thrusters in place of the central crew capsule used on Soyuz flights. [ How Russia's Progress Spaceships Work (Infographic) ]

Progress 47 is filled with vital supplies for the space station's Expedition 30 crew, which includes three Russians, two Americans and one Dutch astronaut. The supply ship is carrying about 110 pounds (50 kilograms) of oxygen and air, 926 (420 kg) pounds of water, 1,988 (901 kg) pounds of propellant and 2703 pounds (1,226 kg) of dry supplies such as food, spare parts and experiment gear.

The arrival of Progress 47 comes at a busy time for the International Space Station. On Friday (April 27), three station crewmembers will return to Earth to wrap up their months-long mission. NASA astronaut Daniel Burbank, the station's Expedition 30 commander, and cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin are expected to return home aboard a Soyuz space capsule and land on the steppes of Kazakhstan in Central Asia.

Then comes the anticipated Dragon launch, which if all goes well, will occur on April 30 and be followed by a rendezvous at the space station a few days later. Astronauts aboard the station will use the outpost's robotic arm to grapple the Dragon capsule and attach to an empty port.

Three new space station crewmembers are slated to launch aboard a Soyuz spacecraft on May 17.


By : msnbc

Mumbai University May Bring In Robotics In Engineering Courses

The University of Mumbai (MU) is functioning on an determined project to set up robotics as a subject in engineering courses. The project, called ‘E Yantra’, is being urbanized with the help of experts from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay.

University Administration convened a conference of directors of the top 15 School of Engineering and the Faculty of Department of Information Processing May 13 to discuss how the project can be implemented in schools. IIT experts also present.

The MU project aims to create a robotic revolution in the educational domain by conducting workshops, hosting competitions, deploying homegrown low-cost educational robotic platform hardware at colleges with the aim of creating quality content for teaching robotics. The idea of the project is to reach the faculty at engineering colleges through a series of workshops.

Robotics Teams Ready to Share the Knowledge

Robots took a immerse in the pool Saturday at Coronado High School in western Colorado Springs.

About the dimension of a shoebox, with plastic pipe frames, the machines used dip noodle foam to keep afloat.

No, they weren’t looking for unsuspecting victims as part of an alien plot. These robots churned through the water, passing through submerged rings as part of an obstacle course to test the savvy of five area high school robotics teams.

About 70 students from five school district worked in teams of three to build the submersible robots Saturday. They will eventually share their knowledge with younger kids.

Each team was given a robot kit, containing the half-inch pipe, foam, three small motors, a battery and several other technical gizmos. The scattered tools and debris in the school’s cafeteria showed they worked hard all morning.

Robotic Surgery Gains Prominence in India

Currently in Chennai in India, major heart surgeries are being performed by a surgeon sitting on a console and manipulating a joy stick. In actuality, he is performing a surgery with the help of an extremely efficient electronic robot with arms.

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The robot’s arms could be maneuvered to perform some very minute and subtle movements to wield the instruments for the operation. The patients, instead of the normally high recovery time are up and about in no time at all. The surgeon in question was Dr Ravi Kumar R from the Chettinad Health City CHC, and the patient was an auto driver on whom a double valve replacement operation was performed with robotics for the first ever time.

Formerly, either the aortal or the mitral valve had been substituted with the help of robots, but simultaneous replacement of both the valves was a new occurrence. From the year 2000, robotics has been utilized in cardiac procedures and it usage has also spread over to other medical fields such as gynecology, urology and oncology. Despite being found in many hospitals in the US, in India it is available in just 4-6 hospitals such as CHC in Chennai, CARE in Pune, AIIMS in Delhi and Fortis-Escorts in Delhi.

National Robotics Week Will Be April 9-17

The second annual National Robotics Week will be held from April 9-17, 2011, with a weeklong series of events in a dozen U.S. locations aimed at increasing public awareness of the growing importance of “robo-technology” and the social and cultural impact that it will have on how people live, work, and play.

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National Robotics Week recognizes robotics technology as a pillar of 21st century American innovation and seeks to inspire students while building their interest in technology and innovation. Events include panel discussions, robotics competitions, introductory courses on robotics for kids, educational workshops for businesses, demos, and tours of innovative labs.

National Robotics Week is a product of an effort by leading universities and companies to create a “national roadmap” for robotics technology, which was initially unveiled at a May 2009 briefing by academic and industry leaders to the Congressional Caucus on Robotics. U.S. Representative Mike Doyle (PA-14), co-chair of the caucus, and other members submitted a formal resolution (H.Res. 1055) that Congress passed on March 9, 2010 to support the designation of the second full week in April as National Robotics Week.