NASA

New robots are about to create a buzz in space.

Three hovering robots, dubbed Astrobees, will be heading to the International Space Station to help astronauts conduct research, do maintenance and track inventory, NASA said Tuesday in a blog post.

Our @Space_Station crew is gaining 3 robotic helpers — Astrobees! 🐝 These cube-shaped robots will stay busy, flying around the orbital lab assisting basic tasks & allowing our astronauts more time for science. But how will they do it? See for yourself: https://t.co/ghyiMwrWZ8 pic.twitter.com/qwwk5wljeH — NASA (@NASA) April 3, 2019

The Astrobees have been developed and built at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. They use fans to move, can turn on any axis and go forward in any direction in space. Each robot has cameras and sensors for navigation and a robotic arm to handle tasks. They run on battery and can dock at a power station and recharge themselves automatically.

They'll also help researchers carry out experiments, test technologies and study human-robot interaction in space, NASA said. The results could help humans prepare to explore the moon and other planets. Two of the three Astrobees are expected to head to the space station this month.