Robot Talk

Episode 146: Embodied AI on the ISS - Jamie Palmer

In this episode, Claire Asher talks with Jamie Palmer, co‑founder and CTO of Icarus Robotics, about developing free‑flying, dexterous robots to assist astronauts on the ISS and future commercial stations. Palmer explains how the robots—essentially microgravity drones with manipulators—are being prototyped, tested via teleoperation, air‑bearing tables, and parabolic flights, with a target launch in 2027. He highlights the massive cost of astronaut labor, the bottleneck of routine tasks like cargo unpacking, and how advances in manipulation AI (e.g., Google RTX, OpenX) enable remote teleoperation and learning from expert demonstrations for future autonomous microgravity operations. The discussion also covers the unique control challenges of free‑flying manipulators and the roadmap from teleoperated prototypes to autonomous in‑orbit work.