Maxon Supplies Motors for Nasa's Tour Guide Robot

A robot that is to become the public face of Nasa's Kennedy Space Centre is using motors manufactured by Maxon to control its realistic humanoid movements. First developed in 2006 by UK company Engineered Arts, Robothespian stands 5ft 9in tall and has a full range of upper-body movement. Nasa has decided to employ the GBP79,000 robot's third generation as a figurehead - meeting and greeting visitors to its futuristic Cape Canaveral base.

Robothespian 3's lifelike humanoid movements are powered by a combination of compressed-air 'muscles' and Maxon motors. A mixture of Maxon's high-performance A-max and neodymium magnet-powered RE-max motors are used to give the robot's hands, arms and torso a performance that is reliable and realistic.

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