The world’s first AI-intelligent astronaut assistant recently had its first interaction with a human on the International Space Station (ISS), but things did not go quite as planned. Fascinating footage released by the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) shows the spherical autonomous assistant speaking, hearing, understanding and even flying. During its first experiment, the technology demonstrator became rather confused and also demonstrates its ability to float while speaking. After being told to “wake up”, CIMON says: “Hello! What a beautiful day! I’m waiting for your commands.”
A worker from the European Space Agency (ESA) commands: “Cancel music.”
To which CIMON responds: “I love music you can dance to. Alright. Favourite hits incoming.”
The worker says aside: “I did shake it before. But he’s already playing a video stream. I mean he’s showing the video stream but still talking about music.”
CIMON, which stands for Crew Interactive Mobile Companion, seemed rather saddened by this comment, saying: “Be nice please.”
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The worker chuckled and said: “I am nice. He’s accusing me of not being nice.”
In another hilarious moment of confusion, CIMON tells the ESA worker: “Don’t be so mean please.”
He bizarrely adds: “Oh dear, I feel you. I can already hear your stomach roaring. Should we take a look for when it is time for food?”
The worker jokes: “He’s a bit sensitive today.”
Engineers hope CIMON will offer company and solutions to astronauts and are optimistic it will become a very useful tool in the future.
CIMON was developed and built in Germany on behalf of the DLR Space Administration, and is roughly the size of a medicine ball, weighing five kg with a diameter of 32cm.
It is planned to be used in the Columbus module of the ISS during Alexander Gerst’s Horizons mission from summer 2018, becoming a ’crew member’ of the ISS.
Christian Karrasch, CIMON Project Manager at the DLR Space Administration in Bonn, explained: “CIMON is globally unique in this form. We have implemented this experiment in a very short time.
“It is intended to show to what extent the astronauts’ work can be supported in the European Columbus module on the ISS and relieve them, in particular, of routine tasks.
“Ideally, the astronauts could use their time better and more effectively. With CIMON, we are entering new territory and operating at the threshold of technological feasibility.”