Four arms are better than two: humanoid robot for zero gravity

The Canadian company Orbit Robotics, a focus project of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), has developed a four-armed humanoid robot named Helios for use in the zero gravity of a space station. The robot has no legs. It doesn't need them in zero gravity either. Instead, the engineers have bolted on an additional pair of arms with hands. This allows the robot to perform more tasks simultaneously.

Helios is not built like a conventional robot with rotating actuators. Instead, its four arms, attached to a humanoid torso, are moved by electric motors via belt-driven pulleys. This makes the entire structure lighter and more flexible. The motors are placed close to the shoulder joints to keep the moving mass low and increase efficiency. The elbow joint is designed as a roller contact joint to create low-friction, smooth movement. The joint is therefore powerful yet maintains a certain flexibility.

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