The Japanese, well known for their cultural love of robots, have once again dominated the recent DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials by a landslide. Japanese robotics company SCHAFT scored a total of 27 points besting the runner up team from IHMC Robotics by 7 points. Considering that the maximum number of points a team can earn at the competition is 32 points, SCHAFT made quite a show much to the delight of onlookers and judges.
The DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials was held at the Homestead-Miami Speedway from Dec. 20 to Dec. 21 with a total of 16 teams from all over the world joining the fray.
According to DARPA, the goal of the recent competition is to design and build a robot that could be used to replace humans in hazardous situations and dangerous locations. The robots are also required to be able to receive and execute simple commands that could be issued by non-technical individuals. The robots should be able to understand and implement commands like clearing debris and obstacles or opening doors. The competition requires expertise in hardware, software and AI systems.
There were a total of eight challenges issued to the competing teams. The robots in the competition were expected to drive vehicles; navigate through a rubble-filled path; clear obstacles and debris, open doors and walk through them; climb ladders, and cross narrow walkways; break through concrete slabs with tools made for human hands; locate and shut off valves, connect fire hoses to pipes and open valves to activate the fire hoses.
The Google-owned Japanese robotics company fielded a new version of their HRP-2 robot. The 216 pound robot is 4.8 feet tall and 4.3 feet wide and is said to be 10 times stronger than the other models in the competition.
In recent years, Google has shown a growing interest in robotics, especially in light of the company's recent purchase of Boston Dynamics. However, Google has specifically stated that while they will honor existing contracts with the military, they will not venture into robots designed for military purposes. Instead, the company plans to focus on civilian applications such as in elderly care and manufacturing.
