Robotics
A race is under way to build robots that can walk, open doors, climb
ladders and generally replace humans in hazardous situations.
In December, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency,
or Darpa, the Pentagon’s advanced research arm, will hold the first of
two events in a $2 million contest to build a robot that could take the
place of rescue workers in hazardous environments, like the site of the
damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
Scheduled to be held in Miami, the contest will involve robots that
compete at tasks as diverse as driving vehicles, traversing rubble
fields, using power tools, throwing switches and closing valves.
In addition to the Darpa robots, a wave of intelligent machines for the
workplace is coming from Rethink Robots, based in Boston, and Universal
Robots, based in Copenhagen, which have begun selling lower-cost
two-armed robots to act as factory helpers. Neither company’s robots
have legs, or even wheels, yet. But they are the first commercially
available robots that do not require cages, because they are able to
watch and even feel their human co-workers, so as not to harm them.
For the home, companies are designing robots that are more sophisticated
than today’s vacuum-cleaner robots. Hoaloha Robotics, founded by the
former Microsoft executive Tandy Trower, recently said it planned to
build robots for elder care, an idea that, if successful, might make it possible for more of the aging population to live independently.
Seven entrants in the Darpa contest will be based on the imposing
humanoid-shaped Atlas robot manufactured by Boston Dynamics, a research
company based in Waltham, Massachusetts. Among the wide range of other
entrants are some that look anything but humanoid — with a few that
function like “transformers” from the world of cinema. The contest, to
be held in the infield of the Homestead-Miami Speedway, may well have
the flavor of the bar scene in “Star Wars.”
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