In the world news today, recently, NASA launched RobotSimian -ape like robots with 4 identical appendages and eyes which are actually seven cameras. These robots can cover highly rough territories and coarse surfaces and they are also capable of picking up the objects. The base of the robots is affixed with wheels which help it in roaming the irregular surfaces smoothly.
NASA designed RobotSimian as a the final entry by Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the Darpa Robotics Challenge which is a twenty seven month long contest which saw top robot makers of the world participating alongside. These revolutionary robots are created to work in the situations and environments which are highly dangerous for humans to work into like nuclear disaster.
In the next stage which takes place in June, all the other eighteen finalists, along with RobotSimian, will have to compete against each other in 8 different circumstances like driving a car, climbing the stairs, using tools, walking across rubble; all without any control of human. The DARPA judges say that the winner should be as smart as a two year old human kid. To fuel the enthusiasm of latest technology news readers, the winning team will be entitled to prize money of $two million.
The substances used in the making of this robot were also used in the making of another robot which is unlike RobotSimian, has a head, spine and 2 arms. This robot, called Surrogate, was while more advanced at picking and maneuvering objects than the RobotSimian, it did not walk so well on the rough terrains. That’s why the team decided to send RobotSimian to the finals after a lot of consideration.
Though, JPL is still working on the speed of the robot as it is a little slower than its competitors. For this, Caltech and University of California are also collaborating with JPL to enhance the walking speed of RobotSimian. The supervisor of Robotic Vehicles and Manipulators group, Brett Kennedy says, “It is calculatedly the tortoise comparative to the other hares in the contest. We feel that a very steady and premeditated approach suites our technical strong points and presents a model for one fundamental constituent of the ‘ecosystem’ of robots that we anticipate to deploy to disaster circumstances in the future,”
As it is noted by the world news today, JPL or Jet Propulsion Laboratory has always been behind the most innovative robotics and Mars Rovers is one of them. The decision behind entering the DARPA competition was taken because it was considered wise to compare their existing robotics studies with that of the world’s top robotic competitors. The software operating the RobotSimian is also inspired by the workings of the Mars Rovers software. Apart from its capability to perform in highly diverse circumstances, the makers also paid due attention to the appearance of the robot.