The human-sized robot – named Valkyrie after the female spirits of Norse mythology – is the only one of its kind outside of the USA, and one of just three prototypes in the world.
Students and staff have bid a fond farewell to Valkyrie as it returns to NASA’s Johnson Space Centre in Texas, after the end of a 10-year lease with the University.
Researchers will look to continue working closely with NASA on a range of other projects, specifically focusing on improving whole-body manipulation and perception in humanoid robots.
Advanced robot
Valkyrie was one of the most advanced humanoid robots in the world when it arrived in Edinburgh in 2016.
NASA aimed to equip Valkyrie to go to Mars many years before astronauts are able to make the journey, for pre-deployment tasks and to maintain assets on the Red Planet.
Standing 1.8 metres tall and weighing some 125 kg, Valkyrie’s human-like shape was designed to enable it to work alongside people or carry out high-risk tasks, sometimes in environments inhospitable to humans.
Valkyrie’s unique hardware included so-called Series Elastic Actuators and a range of sensors, components that are crucial for safe, close human-robot interactions.
Improved abilities
On delivery, the humanoid could walk on flat ground and perform basic movements, such as holding and manipulating objects.
During its time in Edinburgh, researchers worked to give Valkyrie a more sophisticated set of skills using AI in the form of machine learning, enabling it to better understand and respond to its surroundings.
Scientists improved the robot’s handling and walking capabilities, and helped Valkyrie use its on-board sensors to better make sense of its environment, improving its manoeuvrability.
Real-world capabilities
The focus of research involving Valkyrie has been on teaching it to adapt to changing conditions using data, navigate uneven or unpredictable surfaces, and developing smarter ways of connecting what the robot sees to what it does — all fast enough to work in the real world.
Dr Vladimir Ivan is a former student at the University who worked on Valkyrie, and is now Chief Technical Officer at a robotics start-up, Touchlab, based in Edinburgh.