DARPA launches competition to help build strong, power efficient swarm bots

DARPA launches a new program called Short-Range Independent Microrobotic Platforms (SHIRMP) to develop swarm bots to use in disaster relief efforts. DARPA hopes to employ these tiny guys for their disaster relief programs. (Photo via DARPA)

Tiny robots don’t seem very strong, but when you get a whole pack of them together, they’re stronger than you think. The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) knows this and wants to take advantage of swarm bots for their latest program. Recently, the agency unveiled its latest program called Short-Range Independent Microrobotic Platforms (SHRIMP) to develop and test micro-to-milli robots and they want your help.

The goal of the program is to develop “insect-scale robots” that can be used in disaster recovery and high-risk environments. Tiny robots are a great advantage to disaster relief since they can easily move through tiny cracks and crevices. They also feel these small bots have the ability to cover more ground when compared to a large robot. Sure, it may be stronger, but it’s limited in where it can go. Swarm-bots can access hard get to environments that pose issues for larger bots.

But there are many challenges ahead. The three biggest hurdles are size, weight, and power. These little guys have to be strong enough to function in intense conditions, but they also need enough power to keep operating. Most micro-robots are tethered to make them more power efficient. The agency wants to find a way to ensure the bots have enough powered while untethered. To address this, they want to research power converters with the ability to operate at frequencies of tens of Hz with high efficiency and high energy density.

"While the goal of SHRIMP is to develop small-scale, independent robotics platforms, we anticipate that discoveries made through our actuator and power storage research could prove beneficial to a number of fields currently constrained by these technical challenges–from prosthetics to optical steering,” DARPA said in a statement.

To help address these problems they’ve set up a new competition, which should happen in March 2019 according to IEEE Spectrum’s Evan Ackerman. Apparently, there will be two parts to the competition; one for actuators and power sources and the other for complete robots. Teams will be expected to develop systems that “weigh less than one gram and fit into one cubic centimeter.”

Each entry will be judged by a series of events measuring things jumping distance and height, weight lifting, and shotput or the distance the robots can hurl a mass. Anyone who’s interested has to send in their abstracts by September 26. Find more information on the program here.

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