1972-5 – Rancho Anthropomorphic Manipulator (RAM) – Rancho Los Amigos Hospital (American)

The Rancho Anthropomorphic Manipulator (RAM) was built to test manipulator arms for use aboard the Space Shuttle. Orthotic manipulator arms. A man in space is relatively helpless in many respects; to perform useful work, he has to have special tools and some kind of assisting control mechanisms. The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) has long been …

1972 – Free Flyer with Manipulator Arms – Bell / Rancho Los Amigos (American)

Spacemen Get Long Reach with Remote-Control Aids By WERNHER von BRAUN PS Consulting editor, Space Sophisticated puppets called "teleoperators" can relieve our astronauts of many difficult or dangerous tasks performed in orbit When one of our coming Space Shuttles repairs a satellite in orbit, or retrieves it for return to Earth, it's likely the job …

1969 – Self-propelled Anthropomorphic Manipulator (SAM) – Edwin Johnsen (American)

SAM, a mobile manipulator, mimics the movements of an operator stationed at a far-distant control center. The Self-propelled Anthropomorphic Manipulator (SAM) that wears NASA logos was developed under Edwin Johnsen's direction in 1969 by the now defunct Space Nuclear Propulsion division of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. Johnsen is credited with introducing the popular term …