Truth can be stranger than fiction at times, and here we have the SPHERES robots from NASA that was created due to inspiration from the space opera known as Star Wars. Yes sir, SPHERES stands for Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites, and will be roughly in the same mould as that of a bowling ball. These robots will flit about the International Space Station using CO2 thrusters, and they strangely resemble their design inspiration – Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber training droid. MIT professor David Miller’s love for the movies has resulted in this design route, and these robots are meant to perform surveys as well as inspections of the station interior thanks to their integrated camera. The camera will then record both photos and video, saving the crew valuable time from performing tedious tasks, where such data will then be offloaded it to a remote operator on the ground. Up next – one of those mouse droids that roam the nooks and crannies of the Death Star. Hopefully in real life, they’d do far more than just emanate beeps and boops.
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