Its form factor and dexterity are designed such that Robonaut "is capable of performing all the tasks required of an EVA-suited crewmember.
Another was the Robotic Mobility Platform (RMP), developed in 2003,[6] it is a base with two wheels using a Segway PT.
[10] In 2006, the automotive company General Motors expressed interest in the project and proposed to team up with NASA.
In 2007 a Space Act Agreement was signed that allowed GM and NASA to work together on the next generation of Robonaut.
R2 is capable of speeds more than four times faster than R1, is more compact, more dexterous, and includes a deeper and wider range of sensing.
In anticipation of a future destination in which distance and time delays would make continuous management problematic, R2 was designed to be set to tasks and then carry them through autonomously with periodic status checks.
The outer skin materials were exchanged to meet the station's flammability requirements, shielding was added to reduce electromagnetic interference, processors were upgraded to increase the robot's radiation tolerance, the original fans were replaced with quieter ones to accommodate the station's noise requirements, and the power system was rewired to run on the station's direct current system rather than the alternating current used on the ground.
[19][needs update] Further upgrades could be added to allow R2 to work outside in the vacuum of space, where R2 could help spacewalkers perform repairs, make additions to the station or conduct scientific experiments.
[11] NASA announced on 1 April 2018 that R2 would return to Earth in May 2018 with CRS-14 Dragon for repair and eventual relaunch in about a year's time.
In late 2009, a proposed mission called Project M was announced by Johnson Space Center that, if it had been approved, would have had the objective of landing an R2 robot on the Moon within 1,000 days.