The Japanese space agency has 3D printed a drone floating in space. Called JEM Internal Ball (Int-Ball), it is currently aboard the ISS and is controlled on Earth at the JAXA Space Center Tsukuba. According to JAXA, “its exterior and inner structures were all manufactured by 3D-printing.”
This is a circular drone that makes use of existing drone technology. It is activated with miniaturized attitude control sensors and actuators in an all-in-one module.
Mainly developed for satellites, this module allows an accurate control of the movement of the Int-Ball.
We are talking about a device that is 15cm in diameter and was placed on board the ISS (precisely the JEM, Japanese experimental module -Kibo-) on June 4th.
While the Int-Ball could be confused with a toy because of its aesthetics and shape, it still helps reducing the space crew’s work by 10%.
The aim of the Japanese Space Agency is to make the floating camera completely eliminate the “photographing time” of the space’s crew. JAXA hopes that the Int-Ball will soon be able to operate independently and move anywhere by itself.
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