Robohub.org
 

Lego robot controlled from space


by
10 November 2012



share this:


Researchers from the METERON space project have for the first time ever successfully controlled a LEGO robot at ESA’s Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, from the International Space Station (ISS) using Nasa’s Disruption Tolerant Networking (DTN) protocol.

On October 23, American astronaut Sunita Williams had ~1.5 hrs to set up the ESA METERON (Multi-purpose End-To-End Robotic Operations Network) payload and conduct an initial Operations & Communications Test Part 1 (OPSCOM-1) of the Rover Control Software, time-sequenced with an actual LEGO rover on the ground in Germany (constrained to a 2.5-hr battery life).

METERON is an ESA led international space project for advanced telerobotics technology demonstration involving the International Space Station. METERON is targeted at validating autonomous and real-time telerobotic operations from space to ground.

METERON is being carried out in partnership with DLR (Institute of Robotics & Mechatronics), NASA (Johnson Space Centre, AMES Research Centre, Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and Roscosmos with Russian partners (RTC Institute St. Petersburg, Energia).

Check out the video trailer below.



tags: ,


Wolfgang Heller


Subscribe to Robohub newsletter on substack



Related posts :

Robot Talk Episode 151 – Robots to study the ocean, with Simona Aracri

  10 Apr 2026
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Simona Aracri from National Research Council of Italy about innovative robot designs for oceanography and environmental monitoring.

Generative AI improves a wireless vision system that sees through obstructions

  08 Apr 2026
With this new technique, a robot could more accurately detect hidden objects or understand an indoor scene using reflected Wi-Fi signals.

Resource-constrained image generation and visual understanding: an interview with Aniket Roy

  07 Apr 2026
Aniket tells us about his research exploring how modern generative models can be adapted to operate efficiently while maintaining strong performance.

Back to school: robots learn from factory workers

  02 Apr 2026
A Czech startup is making factory automation easier by letting workers teach robots new tasks through simple demonstrations instead of complex coding.

Resource-sharing boosts robotic resilience

  31 Mar 2026
When a modular robot shares power, sensing, and communication resources among its individual units, it is significantly more resistant to failure than traditional robotic systems.

Robot Talk Episode 150 – House building robots, with Vikas Enti

  27 Mar 2026
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Vikas Enti from Reframe Systems about using robotics and automation to build climate-resilient, high-performance homes.

A history of RoboCup with Manuela Veloso

and   24 Mar 2026
Find out how RoboCup got started and how the competition has evolved, from one of the co-founders.

Robot Talk Episode 149 – Robot safety and security, with Krystal Mattich

  20 Mar 2026
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Krystal Mattich from Brain Corp about trustworthy autonomous robots in public spaces.



Robohub is supported by:


Subscribe to Robohub newsletter on substack




 















©2026.02 - Association for the Understanding of Artificial Intelligence