Category: Military

Clearpath Robotics provides base for minesweeper robot

Canadian robot maker Clearpath Robotics recently provided The University of Coimbra’s Institute of Systems and Robotics with a mobile robotic base as part of a grant program, and the Portuguese researchers put it to good use, converting the platform into a minesweeping robot. “Minesweeping is an extremely dangerous and time-intensive process,” Lino Marques, academic liaison

Hunter UAS to continue to fly as Army awards $36M contract

The Hunter Unmanned Aircraft System was thought to be nearing the end of its life last year when the Department of Defense awarded Northrop Grumman a $37.2 million contract modification to supply logistics and engineering support through Jan. 14, 2014 (today). Now it seems the stay of execution has been extended another year, as the

DoD releases 2013 edition of unmanned systems roadmap

Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Defense release its latest roadmap for the future of unmanned systems, which covers the next 25 years. The report to Congress, which is updated biannually, is intended to offer a vision for the continued integration of unmanned systems into the DoD. The report covers air, ground and maritime

Robotics Challenge wraps up, Japanese team takes first place

After leading throughout the competition, Schaft, the Japanese robotics start-up recently purchased by Google, was officially crowned winner of the DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials when they ended on Saturday. Schaft has only been around since 2012, when it spun out of the JSK Laboratory at the University of Tokyo, but it thoroughly dominated the DRC

Watch the Robotics Challenge broadcast live now on YouTube

[ UPDATED: The DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials have ended, with the robot from Schaft Inc. taking the title. Hours of archived coverage of the event are available here. ] To watch the DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials live from Florida’s Homestead Miami Speedway, click the following link for a YouTube stream: DARPA Robotics Challenge Live Broadcast

DRC Trials kick off tomorrow, robots to tackle 8 critical tasks

On April 1, 2012, plans were first announced for the DARPA Robotics Challenge, and after more than a year of anticipation, the robot competitors will finally be put through their paces starting tomorrow. The two-day event, which takes place Dec. 20-21 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla., is actually the second stage of the

AirMule successfully completes series of automated test flights

All unmanned aerial vehicles have a futuristic feel to them, but if you want something that looks like it came straight out of a science fiction film, you can’t beat a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft. The AirMule, an unmanned VTOL developed by Israeli company Tactical Robotics, certainly fits that bill, and it recently achieved

As Robotics Challenge nears, CMU shares final robot design

The next round of the DARPA Robotics Challenge is just a week away, and we’ve started to see a lot more of the robots that will be competing. NASA finally gave a glimpse of its entry earlier this week, and Carnegie Mellon University just released a variety a photos and videos of its robot, known

MRIGlobal concludes work on robot test mannequin project

MRIGlobal reported yesterday that it has completed work on a robotic mannequin and containment chamber to test protective equipment for the U.S. Department of Defense. When fully implemented, the system will make it possible test the effectiveness of protective military clothing when exposed to dangerous chemicals. The five-year “Individual Protection Ensemble Mannequin System” (IPEMS) project

Navy successfully launches UAV from submerged sub

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory reported today that it launched an all-electric, fuel cell-powered unmanned aerial system from a submerged submarine. The “eXperimental Fuel Cell Unmanned Aerial System,” or XFC UAS, was fired from the torpedo tube of the USS Providence using a “Sea Robin” launch vehicle system. The Sea Robin launch system was designed to fit