Int-Ball

The Int-Ball, also known as the JEM Internal Ball Camera, is an experimental, autonomous, self propelled, and maneuverable ball camera which is currently being deployed in the Japanese Kibo module of the International Space Station. The Int-Ball is currently performing some of the photo-video-documentation workload/tasks aboard the ISS. The Int-Ball camera device was designed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and is controlled and monitored by a team of JAXA/Japan based ground controllers.

The Int-Ball weighs 2.2 lbs., is 5.9" in diameter, and naturally floats within the station's zero gravity environment. It is able to be controlled and maneuvered freely within the ISS by its ground based controllers, and is propelled by an array of 12 small electric fans mounted on the ball's outer surface. The unit shares many similarities with Earth based drone motion control and drone camera systems. The Int-Ball's motion control system is capable of executing a rotation on any axis, and is also capable of overall movement in any general direction. The internal structural elements and outer body of the Int-Ball system were produced using 3D printing. The simulated "eyes" modeled on the exterior of the ball represent the direction of the "gaze" of the Int-Ball, which is in fact a single camera lense situated in the approximate center of the two "eyes."

The Int-Ball system was designed with the hope of reducing or eliminating the current amount of time spent by astronauts aboard the ISS in photo-video-documentation activities, which activities have been estimated to consume approximately 10% of the astronauts' work time. The robotic photo-video documentation duties that the Int-Ball is performing have been likened by some to the types of responsibilities that the fictional R2-D2 of the Star Wars movie series appeared to undertake.