{"id":3330,"date":"2013-07-11T22:01:07","date_gmt":"2013-07-11T22:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=3330"},"modified":"2013-07-11T22:01:07","modified_gmt":"2013-07-11T22:01:07","slug":"sci-tech-update-on-darpa-robotics-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=3330","title":{"rendered":"Sci-Tech: Update on DARPA Robotics Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest on the DARPA Robotics Challenge<\/a> competition:<\/p>\n

DARPA\u2019s ATLAS Robot Unveiled<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Seven Track B\/C Teams to Train on the ATLAS Robot; Six Track A Teams Pass Critical Design Review of Robots to Advance to DRC Trials at the Homestead-Miami Speedway this December<\/i><\/p>\n

On Monday, July 8, 2013, the seven teams that progressed from DARPA\u2019s Virtual Robotics Challenge (VRC)<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

These seven teams are not starting from scratch. Thanks to the physical modeling of the DRC Simulator<\/a>, 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<\/a> is capable of a range of natural movements and is equipped with:<\/p>\n