Humanoid Robot developed for DARPA by SRI International (Via SRI International)
DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) has had a host of ‘Grand Challenges’ since their inception in 1958. Notable contests include a driverless car project and the UAV Challenge which resulted in the Predator drone design. DARPA’s next Grand Challenge will focus on humanoid robots that are able to navigate rough or adverse terrain as well as function in areas such as disaster zones. The Challenge will be addressed by six hardware and twelve software (redundancy?) teams that will have to incorporate a certain set of requirements into their designs. These requirements include being able to drive an open-framed utility vehicle, able to unlock closed doors, navigate rubble laden hallways and climb stairs. Finally, the ‘bot’ has to identify and be able to fix broken equipment such as damaged pipes and pumps that, for the simulated run, are primary targets that need to be achieved.
As rumor has it, the Agency wants the challenge to be comprised of bi-pedal robots only. The outcome for this Challenge is to have robots that can enter toxic disaster areas (nuclear, chemical or biological accidents) and be able to navigate through difficult terrain as well as use a variety of tools that were designed for human use to fix certain problems. That’s a pretty tall order in itself, but the Challenge gets worse as the robot will also have to work semi-autonomously with little help from a tele-operator. The actual in-depth details of this Grand Challenge will be provided by DARPA’s up-coming BAA (Broad Agency Announcement) release in the next couple of weeks.
Eavesdropper
