# Topics > Space >  CIMON (Crew Interactive Mobile CompanioN), mobile and autonomous assistance system

## Airicist

Contributors:

Airbus SE

IBM

Project lead - Christian Karrasch

Cimon on Wikipedia

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## Airicist

"Supporting the ESA Horizons mission"

June 16, 2017

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## Airicist

"Hello, I am CIMON!"
Airbus is developing the CIMON astronaut assistance system for the DLR Space Administration

February 26, 2018

"Watson Hops On Board Human Space Flight"

by Matthias Biniok
February 26, 2018

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## Airicist

Article "CIMON the ‘flying brain’ to help astronauts"

by Steve Creedy 
February 27, 2018

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## Airicist

Article "Meet Cimon… the International Space Station’s new crew member and an AI drone"
Cimon can offer technical help, warn of system failures and dangers, and provides a source of entertainment to the astronauts on board the space station 

by Amela Heathman
February 27, 2018

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## Airicist

Meet Cimon, the floating AI astronaut

Published on Feb 27, 2018




> Cimon will be an AI assistant on the International Space Station, and could be a companion for astronauts on long-term missions to Mars

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## Airicist

"Human-machine interaction in space - first technology experiment using artificial intelligence on the ISS"
CIMON - the intelligent astronaut assistant

March 2, 2018

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## Airicist

Robot in space: Alexander Gerst and CIMON head for the ISS

Published on Apr 14, 2018




> Among those who will accompany Alexander Gerst when he heads for the International Space Station this summer is CIMON, a robot with wide-ranging capabilities.






Trailer: CIMON - the intelligent astronaut assistant

Published on Apr 23, 2018




> The Crew Interactive MObile companioN (CIMON) is able to see, hear, understand, speak – and fly. It is roughly spherical, has a diameter of 32 centimetres and weighs five kilograms.
> The technology demonstrator is roughly the size of a medicine ball and will be used in the Columbus module of the ISS during Alexander Gerst's Horizons mission from summer 2018

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## Airicist

Project CIMON - AI assistant for astronauts

Published on Jun 29, 2018




> CIMON (Crew Interactive Mobile CompanioN) is a project of the DLR Space Administration/European Space Agency (ESA) to explores the use of AI as a way to mitigate crew stress and workload during long-term spaceflight. The AI-based assistant for astronauts CIMON is being developed by Airbus in cooperation with IBM and will be tested on the International Space Station (ISS) by Alexander Gerst during the European Space Agency’s Horizons mission between June and October 2018.

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## Airicist

Article "HAL-like robot to help astronaut in space odyssey"

by Joey Roulette
June 29, 2018

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## Airicist

Space to Ground: meet CIMON: 07/06/2018

Published on Jul 6, 2018




> NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station.

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## Airicist

The first AI robot has made it to space and it's kind of creepy lookin'

Published on Jul 11, 2018




> The Crew Interactive Mobile Companion, or CIMON, is mankind's first big step to incorporating AI technology to their everyday life. CIMON will help with simple, everyday tasks...and hopefully not go rouge.

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## Airicist

CIMON the flying AI - behold the future

Published on Jul 18, 2018




> "Hello, I am CIMON!"
> Airbus is developing the CIMON astronaut assistance system for the DLR Space Administration
> 
> Alexander Gerst will test the technology demonstrator aboard the ISS Watson AI (IBM’s artificial intelligence technology) is designed to support space flight crews
> Friedrichshafen / Bremen, 26/02/2018 – Airbus, in cooperation with IBM, is developing CIMON (Crew Interactive MObile CompanioN), an AI-based assistant for astronauts for the DLR Space Administration. The technology demonstrator, which is the size of a medicine ball and weighs around 5 kg, will be tested on the ISS by Alexander Gerst during the European Space Agency’s Horizons mission between June and October 2018.
> 
> “In short, CIMON will be the first AI-based mission and flight assistance system,” said Manfred Jaumann, Head of Microgravity Payloads from Airbus. “We are the first company in Europe to carry a free flyer, a kind of flying brain, to the ISS and to develop artificial intelligence for the crew on board the space station.” Pioneering work was also being done in the area of manufacturing, Jaumann continued, with the entire structure of CIMON, which is made up of plastic and metal, created using 3D printing.
> 
> CIMON is designed to support astronauts in performing routine work, for example by displaying procedures or – thanks to its ‘neural’ AI network and its ability to learn – offering solutions to problems. It uses Watson AI technology from the IBM cloud and, with its face, voice and artificial intelligence, becomes a genuine ‘colleague’ on board. With CIMON, crew members can do more than just work through a schematic view of prescribed checklists and procedures; they can also engage with their assistant. In this way, CIMON makes work easier for the astronauts when carrying out every day routine tasks, helps to increase efficiency, facilitates mission success and improves security, as it can also serve as an early warning system for technical problems.
> ...

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## Airicist

Article "CIMON the AI-based astronaut assistant gets working on the ISS"

November 19, 2018

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## Airicist

World premiere – Rendezvous between CIMON and Alexander Gerst on the ISS

Published on Nov 30, 2018




> International Space Station - Technology Experiment with Artificial Intelligence 'made in Germany'
> 
> #CIMON – the astronaut assistant developed and built in Germany – has survived its cosmic baptism of fire. He worked together with the German ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst for around 90 minutes in the Columbus module of the International Space Station (ISS).

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## Airicist

Alexander Gerst interacts with CIMON

Published on Nov 30, 2018




> ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst interacted with CIMON, an AI assistant for astronauts, onboard the International Space Station, on 15 November 2018. CIMON is short for Crew Interactive Mobile CompanioN and is a project of the DLR Space Administration/European Space Agency (ESA) to explores the use of AI as a way to mitigate crew stress and workload during long-term spaceflight. 
> 
> Credit:
> ESA/DLR/NASA

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## Airicist

Till Eisenberg: Waking up CIMON – the floating brain in space

Oct 15, 2019




> For many people, Airbus is associated with aircraft, but it also does much more. In all that it does, the company always aims to reach beyond the clouds.
> 
> Till Eisenberg is one of those who have helped Airbus make its mark in the final frontier of Space. He led an Airbus team that designed a floating electronic brain – called CIMON – that was sent to the International Space Station to help astronauts with their work. CIMON floats freely in zero gravity with its computerized facial screen watching, listening and communicating by voice with the astronauts. A future version is even being designed to read the mood of those on board in order to help them cope with the psychological demands of being in orbit.

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## Airicist

Silent Film: Time-out for CIMON in Washington D.C.

Oct 25, 2019




> After 4 days of permanently meeting and greeting visitors at the #IAC2019, CIMON needs a break, and some fresh air: we're off to visit Washington DC!

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## Airicist

Article "Emotion-sensing robot launches to assist space station astronauts"

by Joey Roulette
December 5, 2019

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## Airicist

Article "New, Emotionally Intelligent Robot CIMON 2 Heads to Space Station"
The little droid can assess astronauts' emotional states.

by Mike Wall
December 5, 2019

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## Airicist

Article "Meet CIMON-2, a new and improved robotic AI astronaut"
The free-floating robot could make work more efficient on the International Space Station.

by Carl Engelking
December 5, 2019

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## Airicist

Project CIMON-2 the new astronaut assistant on ISS

Apr 15, 2020




> Experimental technology for human-machine interaction in the space industry successfully masters the next stage of development in space.
> 
> A number of tests have now been carried out on CIMON-2, for example on its autonomous flight capabilities, voice-controlled navigation, and its ability to understand and complete various tasks. It also managed to fly to a specific point in the ISS Columbus module for the first time. Thanks to absolute navigation capabilities, CIMON-2 was able to follow verbal commands to move to a particular location, regardless of where it was to begin with. 
> For example, while starting up its new hardware and software, ESA´s Astronaut Luca Parmitano asked CIMON-2 to fly to the Biological Experiment Laboratory (Biolab) inside the Columbus module.

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## Airicist

Luca meets space cyber assistant Cimon

Apr 18, 2020




> ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano tested new functionality for the astronaut aid Cimon relating to mood detection and enjoyed a few favourite songs on the first weekend of February 2020, his last weekend in space for the Beyond mission on the International Space Station.  
> 
> Short for Crew Interactive Mobile CompanioN, Cimon is a 3D-printed plastic sphere designed to test human-machine interaction in space. It was developed and built by Airbus in Friedrichshafen and Bremen, Germany, on behalf of German aerospace centre DLR and uses artificial intelligence software by IBM Watson. Ludwig Maximilians University Clinic in Munich (LMU) is in charge of the project’s scientific aspects. Cimon was first used by ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst during his 2018 Horizons.
> 
> Cimon weighs around 5 kg on Earth and has a display screen at its centre. Its main aim is to support and increase astronaut efficiency by displaying and explaining information needed to carry out scientific experiments and repairs.
> 
> Other applications include mobile photography and videography and the ability to document experiments, search for objects and maintain an inventory. Cimon can also see, hear and understand what it observes and is equipped with an autonomous navigation system, allowing astronauts to issue voice commands like you would to virtual assistants like Alexa, Siri or Cortana on the ground.
> 
> Circling our planet at 28 800 km/h the International Space Station offers space for six astronauts to conduct experiments for researchers all over the world in weightlessness as well as test and demonstrate techniques needed to further explore our Solar System.
> ...

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## Airicist

Article "ISS news: Space station's CIMON-2 AI robot to revolutionise coronavirus social care"
SPACE experts have revealed IBM's revolutionary Crew Interactive MObile CompanioN (CIMON-2) continues to exceed expectations aboard the International Space Station (ISS). One of the AI robot's developers has now revealed how the project can aid social care in the post-coronavirus world.

by Tom Fish
April 24, 2020

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