RoboSimian wants no banana but the ape-like robot means business as it is being prepared by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA for the DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Project Agency) Robotics Challenge Finals. Clyde, as the robot is fondly known in the robotics community, will vie for the $2 million prize. It qualifies for the last leg for the competition after finishing fifth at the DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials.
JPL did not build a humanoid, like the other entries for the competition but instead opted to stick with a design that it has been experimenting on. RoboSimian has four long limbs resembling that of an ape. While the robot can move on all fours, it can also stand on just two limbs. Each limb has a hand that allows Clyde to manipulate objects. JPL previously toyed with similar ideas in the form of a Spider-Bot in 2002 and the Autonomous Walking Inspection and Maintenance Robot. It also created the Limbed Excursion Mobile Utility Robot that mimic the architecture of crabs.
In December, different robots from various teams competed in Florida and showcased their abilities to perform in certain disaster-simulating scenarios ranging from negotiating uneven terrain, manipulating objects, navigating through doors, and clearing debris. This is the first case since the robotics challenge was born following the strong earthquake in Japan and Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown in 2011. The DARPA wanted to develop robots that can respond in extreme and hostile conditions.
At the said event, RoboSimian garnered 14 points behind robots known as SCHAFT that claimed 27 points; IHMC Robotics (20 points); Tartan Rescue (18 points); and Team MIT (16 points). The top eight robots out of 16 were named finalists and will be recipients of DARPA funding to continue development until the scheduled final event later this year.
The team from JPL, managed by the California Institute of Technology for NASA, was selected by DARPA to compete in the challenge. In July 2013, RoboSimian passed the design review to advance to the Robotics Trials.
"Both humanitarian assistance and disaster relief is one of the 10 primary missions that the U.S. Department of Defense has that works throughout the world," said DARPA program manager Gill Pratt in an earlier interview explaining why the Defense Department is pouring a lot of money on robotics.
SCHAFT, the top robot during the trial, was recently purchased by Google.
