The first space assistant robot.

And once again a fiction became reality: a small round robot is floating gently inside the international space station, without the need for any astronaut to operate it manually.

The Int-Ball2, an autonomous free-flying robot developed by Japan's Jaxa space agency, was made possible thanks to a small, extremely precise component created right here on Earth, the Epson IMU. At only 20 cm in diameter and 3.3 kg, the Int-Ball2 is a type of spherical drone that navigates in microgravity, using eight internal thrusters to maneuver in all directions.

Called Kibo, it is capable of flying on its own within the Japanese module of the ISS, capturing high-resolution images of the astronauts' activities and best of all, it does all this without interfering with human work on board, to locate itself Int-Ball2 combines two cutting-edge technologies VS Slam that creates 3D maps in real time based on computer vision and an IMU inertial measurement unit Epson MG370, a very high precision sensor that estimates its position and orientation in space.

This small sensor measures rotational and linear movements with such precision that it allows the Int-Ball2 to float, rotate and dock automatically to its recharging station without errors and without human help. Until now, the astronauts themselves had to adjust cameras, position angles and configure video recordings for the experiments.

In addition, Int-Ball2 already has autonomous capabilities and can execute pre-programmed routines, its operating system is based on Ros, a platform widely used in robotics and that opens the door to future updates, even with machine learning, the same technology used in the device, especially Epson's IMU, can also be applied here on Earth from industrial drones, autonomous vehicles, compact satellites to underwater exploration equipment.

While we look at the sky and dream of interplanetary travel, robots like the Int-Ball2 are quietly transforming the way we live here on Earth and how we explore space, will these robots dominate even more functions in space or will humans always have to be there to ensure control.

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