Many are the projects that are currently being carried out on the International Space Station and for these to have a much greater diffusion among citizens the JAXA, The Japanese Space Agency, has just sent a very special drone, especially in terms of architecture, so that everything that happens inside the station is grave.
One of the characteristics that will surely attract your attention the most is the fact that the drone that has been designed and created by JAXA is a cylindrical unit, something that notably clashes with that architecture of the model with four rotors or with a fixed wing. that we know. Be that as it may, the truth is that the drone fulfills its function very well, that of record everything that happens in the Kibo experimental module of the International Space Station.
Int-Ball is the name with which JAXA has baptized its peculiar spherical drone
Going into a little more detail, Int-Ball, the name with which JAXA has baptized its peculiar spherical drone, we are talking about a unit that measures about 15 centimeters in diameter weighing only 1 kilogram and that has been manufactured by Print 3D. In order to move it, it has been equipped with two small propellers, enough to allow it to move in any direction.
In the video that is located right at the beginning of the extended entry I have left you a video where both the Int-Ball structure like all the sensors with which it has been equipped and even how it has been resorted to the installation of a series of markers on the walls of the module so that the JAXA drone can guide itself.
Int-Ball has been on the International Space Station since June 4, date in which it left from the Earth. Since then, the drone has been tasked with overseeing the work done by JAXA astronauts as well as promoting the automation and autonomy of intra and extravehicular missions.