To Avinash, Rajiv, Daniel, Brent, Blaine, and Mr. Nowbut:

The drawing in your design was the most thorough of any of the designs
submitted. It is clear that you spent time drawing it carefully, including
labeling it and making sure that it was to scale. The more careful you are
in your early designs, the more likely it is that your final design will
work the way you intend it to.

Your robot uses thrusters to move around, which means that it has to work
in micro-gravity. I assume, therefore that it is meant to work on the
space station. What, then, would its jobs on the space station be? If it
is working in micro-gravity, how will it ensure that items it picks up
remain on the shelves?

You might look at the Robonaut project, being done at the Johnson Space
Center. While you are right that robots can be more versatile and less
expensive if they aren't human shaped, you should remember that the space
station is designed for humans. The Robonaut is designed to look like a
human upper body so that it can use the same tools, doors, and other parts
of the station that humans use. For example, have you considered what your
robot can and can't do because it only has one arm?
I look forward to seeing your next design.

-- Salvatore Domenick Desiano
Research Scientist
smile.