DARPA`s ATLAS Robot Unveiled, Era of humanoid started?

[Anonymous_CryptoSpy]

On Monday, July 8, 2013, the seven teams
that progressed from DARPA’s Virtual
Robotics Challenge (VRC) arrived at the
headquarters of Boston Dynamics in Waltham,
Mass. to meet and learn about their new
teammate, the ATLAS robot. Like coaches
starting with a novice player, the teams now
have until late December 2013 to teach ATLAS
the moves it will need to succeed in the
DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) Trials where
each robot will have to perform a series of
tasks similar to what might be required in a
disaster response scenario.

These seven teams are not starting from
scratch. Thanks to the physical modeling of
the DRC Simulator, the software algorithms
that were successfully employed by teams in
the VRC should transfer with minor tuning to
the ATLAS hardware. ATLAS is one of the
most advanced humanoid robots ever built,
but is essentially a physical shell for the
software brains and nerves that the teams will
continue to develop and refine. That software,
and the actions of a human operator through
a control unit, will guide the suite of sensors,
actuators, joints and limbs that make up the
robot. The six-foot-two, 330-pound ATLAS is
capable of a range of natural movements and
is equipped with:


On-board real-time control computer

Hydraulic pump and thermal management

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

In addition to the robot, the winning teams
from the VRC will receive funding from DARPA
and ongoing technical support from Boston
Dynamics, the developer of ATLAS.



“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,”
said Gill Pratt, program manager for the
DARPA Robotics Challenge. “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.”


In June, the DRC program management staff
also visited the seven Track A teams, those
funded to build both hardware and software,
to evaluate their platform design-and-build
progress. The teams presented the details of
their designs, hardware components, operator
control strategies and, in some cases,
completed robots. Based on the results of that
Critical Design Review, DARPA selected the
following six teams to advance to the DRC
Trials with continued DARPA funding (in
alphabetical order by team lead):


Carnegie Mellon University, National Robotics

Engineering Center - CHIMP

Drexel University - Hubo

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory - RoboSimian

NASA Johnson Space Center - Valkyrie

SCHAFT Inc.

Virginia Tech – T.H.O.R.


“We have dramatically raised the expectations
for robotic capabilities with this Challenge,
and brought together a diverse group of teams
to compete,” said Pratt. “The progress the
Track A teams have made so far is incredible
given the short timeline DARPA put in place.
From here out, it’s going to be a race to the
DRC Trials in December, and success there
just means the qualifying teams will have to
keep on sprinting to the finish at the DRC
Finals in 2014.”


The six Track A teams, seven VRC winning
teams and an unknown number of unfunded,
Track D teams and their robots will compete
for the first time in December 2013 at the
Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead,
Fla., site of the DRC Trials. The competition
will be a unique spectator event open to the
public.