A humanoid-looking robot named Athena that scientists hope will one day be useful in aiding at disaster sites, like the one at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, traveled on a commercial flight from Los Angeles to Stuttgart, Germany, in economy class, the
Pasadena Star-News reported.
Athena, whose development was partly funded with U.S. military research money, was flown Monday on Lufthansa to the Max-Planck Institute for Intelligence Systems in Germany.
The robot, sitting in a middle seat and accompanied by institute researchers, could well have been the first to have traveled coach.
"It's the cheapest way of transportation," said computer scientist Stefan Schaal, according to the Star-News.
Athena was crafted by Sarcos, an American engineering and robotics firm located at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, and assembled and programmed at Schaal's University of Southern California lab.
Scientists in Germany — including Schaal, who divides his time between the two countries — will further perfect the robot's capabilities, programming it to stand and walk so that, with any luck, it will be able to take part in rescue and disaster missions.
The robot is 6 feet 2 inches tall, wears size 11 shoes, and weighs about 100 pounds, the Star-News reported.
For now Athena is wheelchair-bound and had to be helped through security and passport control.
A
second robot Schaal is working on — designed to look more humanoid than Athena— still in its early stage of development is intended to assist in the care of elderly and infirm people.
Alice Munteanu of Sacramento, who was in the airport as Athena was passing through, said she wouldn't want to sit next to a robot. On second thought, she added, "I guess if it could massage my feet on my way to Munich, that would be fine," the Star-News reported.
Mary Grady, a spokeswoman for LA World Airports, posted pictures of
Athena's departure on Twitter and proclaimed the event the "first-ever flight by humanoid robot."
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