Watch | Vyommitra, ISRO's newly introduced half-humanoid

ISRO Chairman Kailasavadivoo Sivan (L), Principal Scientific Adviser to Government of India K VijayRaghavan and others look at humanoid robot during the inauguration of Symposium on 'Human Spaceflight and Exploration', a 3-day event organised by International Academy of Astronautics,(IAA), ISRO and Astronautical Society of India (ASI), in Bengaluru, on January 22, 2020. (Source: PTI)

ISRO introduced Vyommitra, a half-humanoid to an international gathering on January 23, 2020.

Vyommitra was introduced by ISRO Chairman K. Sivan and Principal Scientific Adviser K. VijayRaghavan at the symposium on human space flight in Bengaluru.

“I am Vyom Mitra,” the half-humanoid tells her visitors. Detailing her functions, she says, “I can do switch panel operations, ECLSS [environment control and life support systems functions, be a companion, converse with the astronauts, recognise them and also respond to their queries.”

Vyommitra will be sent to space as a trial before Gaganyaan, which will be launched in 2022. Dr. Sivan said that the humanoid will simulate the human functions required for space before real astronauts take off before August 2022. Two trial flights without crew will take place with a humanoid — the first around December 2020 and the second around July 2021.

Vyom Mitra is the result of a year-long effort of the ISRO Inertial Systems Unit in Thiruvananthapuram. ISRO will send the human-resembling model in a space capsule around the end of 2020 or early 2021 for study.