Robotics – Australian Science

Advances in the Robotics Industry: DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials

Dunya — Fri, 07 Feb 2014 00:15:25 +0000

Every year it seems a new movie comes out that tells a story of robots going out of control and taking over the world. In reality, some of the world’s brightest minds are developing robots and software to help assist humans in a range of important work, including surgery, bomb detection and natural disaster assistance.

The DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials were developed to help support and advance those who work with this technology.

About the trials

The DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) is run by the American Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, and winners are awarded a $2 million grant to go towards further development of their robotic technology.

The purpose of the DARPA Robotics Challenge is to promote the use of robotics in assisting humans with natural and manmade disasters; in particular, the use of robots to do things that humans cannot safely do themselves.

Entrants are put through a series of simulated disaster response scenarios such as driving a vehicle, cleaning up debris and cutting through a wall.

Unlike the majority of robots used currently, which work in a very methodical, predictable fashion – such as those in factories – robots that are designed to work in unpredictable situations and environments serve an entirely different, more complex purpose.

DARPA said that robots in the trials generally have the intellectual ability of a two year old child. Although they will still require human commands such as ‘clear up that rubble in front of you’, they can understand a range of commands and implement them.

Photo by robots.net

Categories of the trials

During the trials, there are seven different tasks that competitors have to complete. The complexity and variety of these tasks demonstrates just how advanced these robots are.

Vehicle

During the vehicle task, robots have to drive a vehicle around a pre-determined course that is lined with bollards and pylons and then get out of the vehicle and exit the scene at the end of the course.

Terrain

The terrain task requires robots to travel across three different terrains, which vary in difficulty and complexity. The terrains are made from a variety of blocks, which may shift during the competition.

Ladder

The third task has robots climbing a ladder that is secured at the base. The teams can choose to have either zero, one or two handrails on their course. They can also choose whether they want the ladder at a 60 or 75 degree angle.

Debris

The debris task is divided into three stages. First, the robot must lift and remove five pieces of debris, they will then lift and remove a further five pieces of debris; finally, they must exit through a doorway. The debris is made from a light material such as balsa wood. As long as the robot moves the debris out of its path, it is acceptable.

Door

There are three separate components of the door task. The robots must be able to open a push door, a pull door and a weighted pull door. The doors use a lever-style handle and have a 36

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DARPA’s ATLAS Humanoid Robots

Editorial Board — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 00:04:04 +0000

NASA is exploring peaceful civilian space applications for ATLAS-related technologies. Atlas is a new humanoid robot 6 foot, 2 inches tall weighing 330 pounds. Atlas is initially being designed to provide humanitarian assistance in disaster response/crisis situations.

NASA’s Johnson Space Center (Valkyrie) and Jet Propulsion Laboratory(RoboSimian) teams are participating in the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) focused on developing innovative software to control the robot’s functions. Last month, DARPA awarded funds and an Atlas robot to 7 teams who competed in a software challenge leading up to the first leg of the Robotics Challenge, which kicks off in December 2013.

According to the project website, the goal of the DARPA Robotics Challenge is to create robotic systems that can work “in tandem with their human counterparts, in order to reduce casualties, avoid further destruction, and save lives.”

Atlas can travel through rough terrain outdoors and climb using its hands and feet. The robot features two fully working hands with four fingers, including opposable thumbs, 28 hydraulically actuated joints, a “head” with LIDAR and stereo sensors, automatic crash protection, and an on-board, real-time control computer. In a demonstration video, Atlas easily avoided obstacles, maintaining a steady gait despite unexpected changes to the terrain, and even maintained its balance when struck by a large object.

“Articulated, sensate hands will enable Atlas to use tools designed for human use,” Boston Dynamics says. “Atlas includes 28 hydraulically actuated degrees of freedom, two hands, arms, legs, feet, and a torso.”
Its head includes stereo cameras and a laser range finder. It’s currently tethered to an off-board, electric power supply which limits its range for the moment.

Specifications:
– Six feet, two inches tall (1.88m)
– 330 pounds (150kg)
– On-board real-time control computer
– On-board hydraulic pump and thermal management
– Tethered for networking & 480-V three-phase power at 15 kW
– Two arms, two legs, a torso and a head
– 28 hydraulically actuated joints
– Carnegie Robotics sensor head with LIDAR and stereo sensors
– Two sets of hands, one provided by iRobot and one by Sandia National Labs

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is an agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of new technologies for use by the military.

Boston Dynamics is an engineering and robotics design company best known for the development of the humanoid robot ATLAS and BigDog, a quadruped robot, both designed for the U.S. military with funding from DARPA. The company was spunoff from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The DRC groups are not starting from scratch: thanks to the physical modeling of the DRC Simulator, the software algorithms successfully employed by teams in the previously held Virtual Robotics Competition (VRC) should transfer relatively easily to the ATLAS hardware, according to DARPA officials. The teams will be presented with tasks for ATLAS, such as driving a utility vehicle, walking over uneven terrain, clearing debris, breaking through a wall, closing a valve, and connecting a fire hose.

Ultimately, despite its advanced nature, ATLAS is essentially a physical shell awaiting its software brains that, along with the actions of a human operator, will guide the suite of sensors, actuators, joints and limbs through a series of tasks.

In order to accomplish this, the winning teams will receive funding from DARPA and ongoing technical support from Boston Dynamics, the developer of ATLAS.

Dr. GIll Pratt, Program Manager for the challenge, said DARPA is investing in an open-source simulation package to advance the state of the art in robotic simulation. “In particular, we want to have these tools outlast the program and be the foundation for catalyzing the field of robotics, particularly helping to make the design of robots move from an art to a science,” he said. DARPA is also funding the Open Source Robotics Foundation to further develop a preexisting simulator that will use cloud computing for quick and easy scalability.

Credit: +DARPA/Boston Dynamics, IEEE Spectrum

Source.

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Interview with lead Mars Curiosity rover driver Matt Heverly

Alan Kerlin — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 05:41:07 +0000

Matt Heverly during testing of rover double "Scarecrow" in the desert near Death Valley. Source: Daily Mail UK

When the Mars Science Laboratory – Curiosity – touches down on Mars today, one of the people there ready to take control of it will be Matt Heverly.

Matt is an engineer with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California and has been working on the design and build of Curiosity, as well as being one of the drivers of the lone surviving rover currently on Mars – Opportunity.

And Matt has been appointed by NASA as the lead driver for Curiosity.

Last week I interviewed Matt about this important role, about driving rovers in general, and about the science work that he’ll be helping with.

When Matt came online, he’d quite literally been in the “Mars Yard” conducting some testing with Curiosity’s twin, and he had parked it right behind himself before joining me on Skype. You can see the rover in the background.

(There are a couple of spots where the Skype signal dropped down and a warning dialogue came over the screen. I wanted to get the interview posted prior to the landing day, so no finessing the video editing…)

Interview with Matt Heverly – Mars Curiosity lead rover driver from Alan Kerlin on Vimeo.

There are actually two “twins” of Curiosity used for testing back here on Earth. The one behind Matt is an exact twin is all respects except the plutonium power supply. The other – nicknamed Scarecrow – is a slimmed down version that is designed to weigh as much as Curiosity would in the lower gravity of Mars. It is used to test driving conditions. The following video shows you Scarecrow in action in the Mars Yard:

We also talked about Athlete – a rover design originally destined for the Moon. Check this video of Athlete busting some moves:

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