An intelligent ‘flying brain’ is set to join the astronauts onboard the International Space Station (ISS), as part of the European Space Agency’s Horizons mission that is to be launched in June.
The Crew Interactive Mobile Companion (CIMON) technology demonstrator is currently under development by Airbus, in partnership with IBM, on behalf of the German Aerospace Centre (DLR).
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CIMON will be tested by German astronaut Alexander Gerst during his second six-month mission to the ISS.
The artificial intelligence (AI) based mobile and interactive astronaut assistance system is the size of a medicine ball and weighs approximately 5kg.
It will use IBM’s Watson technology to help Gerst perform three main tasks, including an experiment with crystals, solve the Rubik magic cube based on videos, and conduct a complex medical experiment using CIMON as an ‘intelligent’ flying camera.
IBM Germany, Switzerland and Austria lead Watson architect Matthias Biniok said in a statement: “CIMON is currently being trained to identify its environment and its human interaction partners.
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By GlobalData“AI gives the space assistant text, speech and image processing capabilities, as well as the ability to retrieve specific information and findings.
“These skills, which can be trained individually and deepened in the context of a given assignment, are developed based on the principle of understanding – reasoning – learning.”
When fully developed, CIMON will feature a digital face and voice, as well as use AI to make itself a ‘colleague’ to the ISS crew members.
CIMON is also expected to help reduce astronauts’ stress and improve efficiency.
Made of plastic and metal, the demonstrator is set to improve safety, as it can serve as an early warning system in the event of future technical problems.
