DARPA Robotics Challenge Track B/C Teams Meet ATLAS Robot

Photo courtesy DARPA.

 

By Holly Gonzalez



DARPA unveiled its ATLAS robot that will be used in its Robotics Challenge competition. 



The seven Track B/C teams in DARPA’s Virtual Robotics Challenge met ATLAS robot at Boston Dynamics’ headquarters in Waltham, Mass., and have until the December trials to teach ATLAS moves in order to perform simulated tasks for disaster response needed for the Robotics Challenge Trials. 



ATLAS robot is 6 feet and 2 inches tall; weighs 330 pounds; and has two arms, two legs and a sensor-equipped head. ATLAS is capable of use of an onboard real-time control computer, hydraulic pumping, thermal management and has 28 hydraulically actuated joints. The robot’s sensor head, equipped with lidar, was made by Carnegie Mellon University. The robot also has two sets of hands, with one apiece made by iRobot and Sandia National Labs.



“The Virtual Robotics Challenge was a proving ground for teams’ ability to create software to control a robot in a hypothetical scenario. The DRC Simulator tasks were fairly accurate representations of real world causes and effects, but the experience wasn’t quite the same as handling an actual, physical robot. Now these seven teams will see if their simulation-honed algorithms can run a real machine in real environments. And we expect all teams will be further refining their algorithms, using both simulation and experimentation,” Gill Pratt, DARPA robotics challenge program manager said. 



Six Track A teams passed a critical design review given by DARPA Robotics Challenge management for the virtual context. The teams will be joined by several unfunded Track D teams for the DRC trials in Homestead, Fla., in December 2013 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.



More information and updates on DRC, visit www.theroboticschallenge.org.