Hmmm
Is the OS XP?
On Monday, SpaceX is scheduled to fire off its third resupply mission to the International Space Station, and among the nearly 5,000 pounds of supplies will be a pair of robotic legs for the station's mechanical inhabitant. Robonaut 2 (R2) is a humanoid robot torso with arms designed and built by the NASA Johnson Space Center …
...only two arms. Yes, "humanoid" so as to use the same tools as the meatsacks, but why not give the robot 3 or 4 arms in the first place?
In effect, that's what the new "legs" are, of course, but why make the whole thing human shaped at all? Why not have four "shoulders", each with an arm?
because it's designed for teleoperation and that configuration most closely resembles the new crop of genetically enhanced astronauts who have six knees on each leg.
actually, i'd rather see a hexapod version with each "foot" designed to operate as a "hand" as well. that gives a quadriped stance for the most stable base and leaves two limbs free to work or be teleoperated. alternatively a tripod stance with two "free" arms and a third (or gripping) hand to be used to hold something steady.
Im surprised at how small the attachments are on the "legs" I know space is weightless but they seem awful small to take a lot of stress as the robot climbs around.And as previous posts I would have thought a multi limbed device much like a spider with at least three anchor points thus two are always attached to stop the robot twisting during point changes.