On June 16-17 the AUVSI New England Chapter and the Devens Interoperability Playground (IOP) hosted the Devens Robotica 2015 in Devens, MA. Devens Robotica 2015 is the first in a series of annual trade events aimed at showcasing Massachusetts and New England capabilities in the areas of robotics and unmanned vehicles.



The Devens IOP aims to address an unmet need for field testing and independent certification of robotics systems such as driverless cars, first responder tools, delivery drones, agricultural robots and maritime safety and patrol vehicles. The IOP offers a new method of insuring that commercial robots operate safely, respect privacy, and stay reliably within design constraints. The IOP also has all the necessary terrains; multiple ground terrains, lakes and a decommissioned airfield where small UAS can be safely operated.

 

The IOP is a non-profit membership organization that serves both large and small robotic systems firms. The functions and services provided to members include; interoperability assessment by robotic application and market, test suite development for specific market applications, detailed tests and evaluations executed in the "real world" living laboratory and certification of interoperability and reliability to operate safely in weather, civil, and public environments. Current IOP  members include the AUVSI New England Chapter, Boston Engineering, EMC2 and IXBLUE.

New Hampshire based Dean Kamen of DEKA Research and Development provided the keynote address to participants. Kamen has a long list of robotic inventions, as well as over 440 patents and most notably, he and his DEKA Research and Development team, designed a prosthetic arm developed to aid soldiers, as well as the two-wheeled, self-balancing Segway®. Devens Robotica had 64 exhibitors, 412 attendees and over 85 participating companies at the event.

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