FEDOR Robot - training with the new ISS crew and the first space tasks

The crew leaving for the ISS on July 20, 2019, passed training sessions with the FEDOR robot at the cosmonaut training center (CPC).

In continuation of the publications:

Luke ship "MS-14 Alliance" was narrow for FEDOR robot
how to modify FEDOR robot and chair for the flight to International Space Station

ISS now there is a rotation of crews this week to Earth with the ISS returned Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, Canadian David Saint-Jacques and American Anne McClain.

Now at the station there are: Alexey Ovchinin (Russia), Tyler Nicholas Haig and Christina Koch (both from the USA).



July 20, 2019 it is planned to send the ISS on board the Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft crew consisting of: Alexander Skvortsov, Andrew Morgan and Luca Parmitano.

Thus, two Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Alexei Ovchinin will work with the FEDOR robot on the ISS, and their foreign colleagues will help them.



The first training familiarization sessions with the FEDOR robot control system have already been held in Star City, including the study of how to operate it in zero gravity.

Based on the results of these training events, the new ISS crew had comments on some elements of the FEDOR robot, which will be eliminated by the developers and engineers of Roscosmos and RSC Energia before the flight.



“We had classes with him, this task appeared very unexpectedly, I had to solve it right away. There are some comments on the preparation, but these are comments that are understood by astronauts who know what weightlessness is. These are some nuances, I am sure that they will be eliminated and I hope that the result of working with FEDOR will be positive and interesting, and the first pancake will not be lumpy. You will see this from our shootings , ”said astronaut Alexander Skvortsov, without specifying the nature of the comments.

The FEDOR robot on the ISS will be controlled in avatar mode. Now the cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov is just training and undergoing training to study the use of the robot, learning to control his movements with the help of a special suit that captures human movements and transfers them to the sensors of the robot.

“It turns out that it is in such a mode as an avatar,” said Alexander Skvortsov, answering the question of whether FEDOR will be the first android mechanism at the station.

“He (FEDOR) is efficient, but let's keep a little intrigue. The tasks that stood before him decreased, there will not be much time. I will not voice the tasks - what I will do, and he - to do with me. It is interesting, you will see everything, ”intrigued Aleksanr Skvortsov.



It turns out that the ISS has already prepared a place for the FEDOR robot, so its deployment to the station and commissioning will not take much time.

After docking, he will be transferred from the ship to the Russian segment of the station.

Power supply of the FEDOR robot during the flight inside the Soyuz spacecraft and on the ISS will be carried out from external batteries, and not through cables from the ship’s and station’s electrical systems.

In turn, the head of the Cosmonaut Training Center (CPC) Pavel Vlasov confirmed that the main experiments with the FEDOR robot will be carried out by the crew departing for the ISS on July 20, 2019, according to the work schedule.

“From the new, what the crew will evaluate for the first time, and we will observe the possibility of the functioning of the first serious robotic system like a FEDOR robot ,” said Pavel Vlasov, speaking about the tasks of the next expedition to the ISS.

Under the conditions of the ISS, astronauts will evaluate the correctness of design calculations when creating the FEDOR robot and the prospects for the implementation of this project to provide robotic support to the station crew with the prospect of long flights.

However, so far there has been no talk of the FEDOR robot entering outer space , but in fact it is interesting to astronautics for this.

“We will eat the elephant in parts. First of all, it is created precisely as support for the crew in extra-ship activities. Moving on the surface of the station at its current size with a football field is not easy and quick. Support can be elementary - transportation of some kind of tool, but there are a lot of possible applications , ”said Pavel Vlasov.

Now we are working on and adjusting the plan of tasks that the FEDOR robot will have to perform.

Previously, he had already indicated the execution of twelve experiments, however, most likely, only four to six tasks that the FEDOR robot will repeat after the person will be included in the final program.

I wonder if there will be tasks that, together with the Astrobee project robots, which are already on the ISS , can be implemented with FEDOR.

About the flight of the FEDOR robot A

two-day flight scheme will be applied when launching the Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft with the FEDOR robot Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle.

The launch of the Soyuz MS-14 transport vehicle on the Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle is scheduled for August 2019.

The flight of the ship will take place in unmanned mode, which will increase the payload several times due to the lack of some of the instruments and assemblies necessary to ensure the crew’s work.

The Soyuz MS unmanned ship is not a new modification of the manned ship. This version of the Soyuz MS is distinguished from the usual serial ship by the upgraded motion control and navigation system (SUDN) and the corresponding refinement of individual airborne systems.

During the flight, this system will be tested and the integration of the Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft with the Soyuz 2.1a launch vehicle will be verified.

The Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle will be replaced as a means of delivering people to the Soyuz-FG orbit with the Ukrainian control system. The stock of these missiles is almost exhausted.